Productivity

I'm having a 'Gemma Day' today. My company allows employees to have two 'Special Needs Leave' days per year of employment, so a couple of weeks ago, during a bout of stress, I decided to book one in and have a day to myself.

I plan on overhauling my wardrobe and aagetting a better organised to chaos ratio happening. I've started already and have discovered two things: 1- I own far too much dark clothing. You'd be forgiven for thinking I had emo tendencies; 2- I'm fairly certain my clothing breeds. Seriously. I got rid of numerous bags of clothing before I moved here in April, and I'm culling more clothes now. I know I've bought clothes since, but these are old items that I'm throwing out. My clothes are breeding. That's my excuse.
I'm also going to reduce the number of hanging clothes I have. I don't have a chest of drawers or anything, but I'm going to have tubs for my pjs and gym clothes so that I can actually look through the clothes that are hanging. At the moment, the clothes either hang or live in piles in my room. Oops. Time to make my room more like a haven and less like a hovel!

Furthering my homely duties today, I'm going to cook up a storm. Well, not literally, I'm fresh out of thunder and couldn't find any at the supermarket. Ba boom tish.
What's on the menu?
Anzac Biscuits (excuse my modesty, but I make fricken awesome Anzac biscuits!), peppermint-choc chip muffins (never made them before, but was looking at the essences and decided that peppermint looked like a good choice!), and either tuna bake or creamy pasta bake.
Nommedy nom noms.

Once all of my domestic duties have been completed, it'll be time to indulge in some DVD watching which will no doubt continue into the evening. Why the heck not, hey?

Happy Friday readers

xx

Clarity

So. I did what I had to do and I'm sure the time that I am posting this (9.35pm) is indicative of how well it went.

However, I am glad that I am home at this time. I tried to enjoy myself but my heart wasn't in it, and I knew it wasn't where I'm supposed to be.
I'm really glad that that was the case too, because I'm liking, no LOVING, the way my life is going at the moment and I really didn't want to throw a spanner in the works. I'm happy to mosey along with things they way I have been and enjoy each day.

I got some fantastic news today too. Looks like it's going to be three fabulous weekends in a row for me.

Dear readers, I hope you are all as happy with your lives right now as I am with mine. If not, I hope you find that happiness very very soon.

xx

Cryptic Confusion

I'm doing something tonight that I've put off twice now. I even considered putting it off again. Until last night, when I was looking at my Facebook profile and saw the lyrics I have underneath my picture. The same lyrics I have on my wall above my mirror: "Don't hold back and always know, all the answers will unfold". These lyrics come from the song Soar, by Christina Aguilera.* (Don't hold it against me that I like her music, this song got me through a LOT of crap times. Also, my music taste is actually quite broad, so some pop is bound to sneak in there).

"Don't hold back" were the words that hit home and made me think 'What the heck, might as well do it and see what happens'. So I'm going to do it. And see what happens.

I'm nervous and still considering being too sick to go, which may not be too far from the truth as I do have a bit of a cold at the moment. Not to mention it's probably going to be a pain in the arse to get there. I'd feel bad if I tried to postpone or cancel again though. So I have to just go, enjoy myself, and see what happens.
My task for the day - focus on those lyrics.

xx

*please excuse the crappy vision on that you-tube clip. I wanted to link the song rather than just the lyrics, and I just clicked on the first one that came up in the search. Meh.

You Know You're ... When ...

(A fun post for a sleepy Tuesday evening)

You know you're short when you buy a pair of 'short length' pants and they still need to be taken up!
You know you're a bargain hunter when you pay $33.90 for $79.97 worth of items!
You know you're PMSing when you snap at one of your nicest colleagues (oops!)
You know you're tired when you couldn't be bothered thinking of any more 'You know you're ... whens' after only three.

Share you 'You know you're ... whens'

xx

Ink, Wonderful Ink

Yesterday I sat through an hour or so of needle-induced discomfort and allowed a strange man to permanently mark my skin.
This is the result:
I love them. They're making sitting, sleeping and wearing clothes difficult, but they're worth it. They've certainly dulled my desire for more ink - for a while at least. This experience was certainly more painful than the last, but these two babies are considerably larger than my first one! The pain itself was bearable, and as I told a potential customer outside the parlour, it's a good pain, and if hurt that much, people wouldn't get them.

Oh, and this was just one part of another awesome weekend.

Did I mention I love life right now?

xx

Friendship, Exercise & New Ink

This last week has been fantastic. M and I have been chatting every night and we had a sleepover last night to watch State of Origin. It was such a fantastic night. Once again, I felt ridiculously comfortable in his presence. Such an awesome feeling :)

He's encouraging me to get my butt into gear and exercise. I was all ready to sit in my room and veg out online in my trackie-dacks, but somehow he convinced me to go the gym, so off I went and did a pretty full-on cardio workout. Now I've got the bug again, and am seriously considering walking home from work tomorrow (about 5kms). I need to get myself fit and do some serious training for the Bridge to Brisbane which is fast approaching (30th August). I'm determined to beat last years time, which I'm sure I'll do fairly comfortably, but I'd really like to better it by about 9 minutes.

And in other news, I booked myself in for my next tattoo! At 3pm on Saturday, this happy little blogger will arrive at the tattoo parlour, and shortly after, the needle will hit the skin and the inking will begin! I'm getting two wings on my lower back. I'll be sure to post pictures. A sure indication that ink is addictive - I got my first only 10 weeks ago!

Hope everything is well for you all, dear readers .
xx

High On Life

Don't say I didn't warn you that I ride quite the emotional rollercoaster!!

Here I am, back at the top of the rollercoaster, and I'm hoping I stay up here for a while. Not keen to go zooming back down thanks!

It all started with a fantastic weekend. I met my new friend M, and ended up spending the next 36 hours with him. They were 36 of the most awesome hours ever. I haven't felt that comfortable in someones presence for a long time (ever?). I can't even remember the last time I spent that much time with someone! No awkwardness, just awesomeness. It really makes me smile.

Today was a bit of a blah day at work, and I did have a bit of a whinge to my colleague at lunchtime. I also very nearly fell asleep. Oops.

A second wind hit me when I got home though (or perhaps it was the sugar from the chocolate I had) and I was disgustingly/delightfully productive. I went for a walk to return a DVD (was cranky with myself for not wearing the appropriate clothing to jog! Shock!), before I left I put a load of washing on. I cooked myself a proper-ish meal, transferred the clothes to the dryer, coloured my hair, shaved legs and armpits ... Unheard of for me on a weeknight! Especially a Monday night!

Then it all improved when I was invited to watch State of Origin with M on Wednesday night. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with him again. Oh, and bless him, he's even going to pick me up from work and drop me off in the morning. He's seriously a totally lovely guy, and I feel so happy to have met him. Yes, I realise I'm talking about 'Yet Another Guy' but meh. I'm single and I'll do what I want. I have faith that this is the start of a wonderful friendship.

Right now, my life rocks.

Beginning the Ascent

Okay, so, my last post was work related. I'd hit a really low point, and was ready to bail. Now, with a clearer head, I know that it's not the wisest idea unless I can find a totally awesome job somewhere. I work for a huge company, and was incredibly lucky to get my position as my boss does not normally hire peope without experience, yet after a 6 week stint as a temp, I was offered a permanent position. In my first year of employment I received two bonuses, two pay-rises and several 'well done' vouchers along the way. I'd be stupid to leave a job like this in a hurry. So I'm going to wait it out, and try and find other ways to fill my life with joy.

For the most part, I do enjoy my job. I enjoy the fact that I do play an important role and I am needed. It'd be nice if a little extra appreciation was thrown my way, but I've just got to 'suck it up, buttercup'. I know that the people who count know that I do a good job, and when crunch time arrives, I am recognised for my efforts. Just being a whinger. Hehe.

So now I begin the ascent back up the rollercoaster.

Time For a Change

I can't say too much at the moment, but I've reached breaking point and there's a certain aspect of my life that needs to change. A girl can only take so much ...

Blah-ness

This week was a bit of a nothing week, hence the lack of blogging. I get like that sometimes; loads of things to blog about one week, bugger all the next.

I've just been working, eating and sleeping. Oh, and I went to the movies with my housemate on Thursday night and had myself a little adventure on the way. Scared the shit out of me, but once resolved I couldn't stop laughing. It's too embarrassing to share here though. Yes, it was THAT bad!

Plans for Europe are still in place. Only thing I can do at the moment is save, and I'm trying, but I'm a shocker with money. I'll get there though. If I'm meant to go, I'll reach my goal. Disgustingly positive attitude, and not entirely practical, but that's how I roll peeps, that's how I roll. I did make a 'Europe related purchase' this week actually. I was in a store and spotted a rather nice coat. A nearby sign suggested that it was 30% off but I wasn't certain and needed to start heading back to the office. So I checked online and found (if not the same one, then a very similar one!) the jacket - for less than the instore price! I purchased that little baby, and now it's being shipped to me. You're going to think me insane for saying this, but I hope it stays cold here in 'sunny' Queensland for a little while longer, just so I can trial run my new coat.
Here she is:
I bought her in black. She's not as pretty, or quite as practical, as the one I lusted after a few posts back (I did go and check that one out IRL though, and lusted some more) but she was also considerably less. In black, she's going to look way stylish. I'll try and remember to show her off when she arrives.

Aside from happy things like adventures and coat purchases, I've had a bit of an emotional week. Riding the good ol' rollercoaster of life. Happy as Larry (maybe I should change my name to Larry and then I'll be happy all the time?!) one minute, in tears the next. Okay, maybe not quite that emotional, but certainly within the space of a day I've gone from sublime happiness to tears and 'why me?' thoughts. I've been wondering lately if I should go back to a psychologist. I saw one about 18 months ago, but stopped seeing her earlier than I should've. Stupid emotions making me think I was 'better' than I was. If I can find the time and money, I think I might. Would be nice to be able to vent and have a sounding board.

I'm trying to stay upbeat and in love with life, to focus on the positives and appreciate what I do have. Like friends who decide at 10pm on a Friday night that they feel like eggs so we should do breakfast the following day. And the ability to work paid overtime to help out with savings for my European Adventure. And getting dolled up to celebrate a friends birthday. A fun day ahead - if I don't think about the housework too.

Happy weekend, readers

xx

Challenge 7: Fifteen Facts

Blog This Challenge 7
Tell us fifteen facinating, far fetched, frightening, funny or frivilous facts about yourself. Those bits of trivia that are floating around in your life.

Can you eat 10 burgers in one sitting? Do you sleep with your eyes open? Can you tie a cherry stalk into a knot? Speak 5 different languages?

All those things that you've bored your friends and family with for years - We want to know.

1. I'm currently addicted to scarves. I can't wear them often enough. I heart them.
2. I once had 12 inches cut off my hair. It felt so liberating. I doubt I'll ever grow my hair that long again. It's currently about 4 inches long all over.
3. I have the ability to drive a manual car, but haven't done so in over 2 years. I'm considering hiring a car one day just to refresh my memory.
4. I've fallen asleep with my eyes open, and conducted a conversation with my dad while I was sleeping. I remembered the conversation, but had hoped it was a bad dream, as it was about a neighbour who had passed away.
5. I'm terrible at keeping in touch with people, and often consider getting back into contact with people from my past but don't because I feel slack for not having been a better friend.
6. I'm a hopless romantic. I believe that 'Prince Charming' is out there somewhere.
7. I get bored easily and almost constantly seek excitement.
8. I loathe the number 6, and am not particularly keen on the number 13 either. I will go out of my way to avoid the number 6. If I'm reading a book before I go to sleep, I will hesitantly stop at the end of chapter 5, and convince myself that I can stop there because I've only read 5 chapters. If I stop at the end of chapter 6, I tell myself it's okay because I'm up to chapter 7.
9. Once upon a time I didn't like the taste of coffee, now I love my caffiene fix in the morning and really appreciate a great coffee.
10. I love to cook, but don't cook proper meals often enough. This is partially due to not having the motivation to cook for myself, and partially because I don't like being the first to taste my food.
11. I fear death.
12. I don't tell people what the fondest memory I have of my pa is because I'm afraid they'll think bad things about him. I doubt society today would look at it in the same fond light as I do. That saddens me.
13. I can't remember the last time I told my father I loved him, but I do and he means the world to me.
14. I don't get to see my family as often as I would like, but I don't like to go to the area they live in as it upsets me and makes me feel uncomfortable. It no longer feels like home.
15. I have a secret that I'd love to share with you all, but I'm afraid you'd laugh at me and I don't handle criticism well.