N~space

Caution: may contain octopus

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:14:39 GMT

This news story has the funniest octopus video ever:

“After turning the shells so the open side faces upwards, the octopuses blow jets of mud out of the bowl before extending their arms around the shell - or if they have two halves, stacking them first, one inside the other - before stiffening their legs and tip-toeing away. … The octopuses eventually use the shells as a protective shelter. If they just have one half, they simply turn it over and hide underneath. But if they are lucky enough to have retrieved two halves, they assemble them back into the original closed coconut form and sneak inside. “

I love the finish as well. I've had nightmares like that...

Beginnings and endings

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:47:15 GMT

This morning my sister in law gave birth to her second daughter. She was about a week overdue, and then yesterday afternoon texted us to let us know she thought she was in labour. It was all very exciting. Then, around 1am this morning we got another text announcing the baby was born.

Call me grumpy (and also call me pregnant, exhausted, and insomniac to get the full picture) but I probably could have waited till the morning to find out. Sure, we went to sleep wondering how she was doing, but we were asleep, you know? We weren't hovering near the phone or pacing the floor, and we already knew she was having a girl. (I'll certainly wait till the morning to tell people.) But I understand, this is immense, it's wonderful, we're so happy for her, so we went, "Aww," and tried to go back to sleep. Which in my case involves a lot of tossing and turning and trips to the toilet. (Do I need to go? How about now? Dammit, how can I need to go again?)

I could definitely have done without the second text an hour later with a photo attached. Yep, it's a baby! Looks pretty much the same as the photo of her friend's baby she showed me on the weekend! Look, I am just not maternal. I am really hoping that everyone who says it's different when it's your own is right, though on the other hand I don't want to turn into a squeaky babytalking ball of goo, I do that enough with the budgie as it is.

Shortly after the second text I realised that crap, this is going to be us in less than four months, and I told Dave, and then neither of us got anymore sleep. This is why my phone doesn't make a noise for texts.

But I am really happy that baby girl Name To Be Determined is with us at last, and I'm really looking forward to going and seeing her tomorrow night. Hey, at least there's someone for me to watch and learn from over the next few months because seriously, about babies I have no idea.

And then this morning I got an email from a good girlfriend. I've known her for almost 12 years, we met when I did Jenny Craig and she was my consultant, and I used to distract her when I hadn't lost any weight by talking about books. We haven't seen much of each other in the last 8 years, after I moved to London in 2001 we discovered we were both really crappy at emailing, but I still consider her really close. In 2003 I was her bridesmaid, I came back for it specially, and I was so honoured that she chose me over people she'd known longer and spent more time with. She was my bridesmaid earlier this year, and then she moved straight up to Queensland with her husband. I couldn't get mad at her because hey, I went across the world, she was still only a few hours away.

Anyway, over the last couple of months we hadn't spoken or emailed, both still being crappy at it, but it was her birthday on the weekend so I thought I'd better email and also tell her all the news of the last few months (including the pregnancy). And this morning she wrote back and told me she and her husband had separated. She was sorry that she hadn't been in touch to tell me sooner but she hadn't wanted to tell me while I was still in the honeymoon period. And it's just so sad. Partly because they were such a great couple, so loving and relaxed that I thought they'd make it for sure (but who knows, what with the stress of moving and losing their dog and whatever else goes on between couples) but also mostly because I wish I'd been there for her. If I'd not procrastinated on emailing her she might have told me sooner, and I could have helped. God knows, I know how it feels; my first marriage broke up one week before I went on the 3-month London business trip that ended up taking over 7 years, so I know what she's been going through. And I might be bad at emailing but I'm really good at empathising and helping people, and I wish I'd done it for her. I guess I am still a really shitty friend.

But, she emailed me now, and she says she's feeling good now and excited about the future, and possibly travelling overseas. And then she mentioned the new Katherine Kerr book and asked if I'd read it, so I'm going to write back and say no but I bought it for mum for Christmas, and then I'm going to talk about other books and what it was like going overseas, and I am damn well going to be there for her and be a better friend than I have been lately.

I love you, Tam.

Outed

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:22:41 GMT

So today I had my first experience of being picked as pregnant out in public. Well, apart from that time a few weeks ago when the train was crowded and an older woman offered me her seat, but that doesn't count because I was wearing a skirt that has always made me look pregnant and holding a pregnancy book, so that was a bit of a giveaway. (I didn't take the seat, by the way. She was older and I didn't really need it, so I would have felt bad.)
But today counts! I was out buying lunch and out of nowhere the girl behind the counter said, "is it a boy?" It's a good thing she also pointed at my stomach because otherwise I wouldn't have had the faintest clue what she was talking about. I said, "A girl," for Lo! It is so, and she had a little squee, and then she gave me my lentil soup and that was that.
It was pretty cool. I mean, also I think she was pretty brave, because I'm a bit on the lardy side anyway and to me I just look fatter than normal. I guess the flowy peasant top I'm wearing helped. There is a baby bump there, if I prod my abdomen it's alarmingly tight and round, but it's pushing out my existing belly fat so I still look wobbly rather than having that nice curve. I'm looking forward to it getting bigger and more obvious because I'm getting tired of catching sight of myself naked in the mirror and thinking holy feck, you're getting fat! Then I remember, but I still have to go through it every time. It's not good for my self-esteem.
So at this point I am 23 and a half weeks along and I can feel the baby move every now and then, but mostly I don't. It does feel like bubbles, or weird gas, or sometimes it doesn't really feel like anything but I'm aware. This is good; I was starting to freak out that I hadn't felt anything, even though my obstetrician and my friends and Dr Google all said it would take longer, this being my first pregnancy and the placenta being on the front (and ahem, me being of portly disposition) and all. Plus right now I feel fine, I don't feel pregnant at all, and I keep forgetting, which is why the mirror always comes as a shock.
It still feels so unreal. I've never been a maternal person, so having a baby wasn't something I've known I'll do. I don't feel qualified for it. I'm not exactly a crafty person; the handiest thing I've done lately is knit Dave one of these Daleks, but that had instructions and even then it came out a bit lumpy. How can I possibly be growing a human being right inside me? I have no idea how to do that; it shouldn't be allowed. Yet here she is, growing away, doing all the right things exactly when she should be, and I have nothing at all to do with it. It's very strange.
This is why I'm looking forward to getting bigger, even though it will be over a sweaty hot summer and I shall waddle and be uncomfortable, and for her to start kicking, because then it might start feeling like I'm not making it up. As it is right now I keep prodding my belly and turning all wide-eyed to Dave to say things like, "I'm pregnant! You knocked me up!" and I think he's getting a bit sick of it. Or maybe he just doesn't believe me yet.

As the dust settles

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:36:54 GMT

(This was written last Friday, but we have no internet at the house and my mobile reception stinks.)
Well, we've now been in the new house eleven days and I think we're settling in nicely. It's funny, everyone says moving is up there on the list of most stressful things you can do, and yet if you'd asked me in the last two weeks I'd have said, "oh I'm not stressed," in the meantime bitching out poor Dave and being bad-tempered. Not exactly self-observant, me.
The stresses are just the usual niggly ones from finding out that all in a house is Not As It Seemed. We were a bit naive, we thought the house needed no work at all but it's 20 years old so of course there are little things. Like some windows stick and not all have flyscreens, we can't work the heating, and getting the internet sorted is becoming a pain. And we had no TV reception at first, even though the guy said he'd had Mr Antenna out and everything was HD ready. And oh my god, look at the cobwebs on the clothesline and what the hell were they thinking blocking access from the laundry door so down the side of the house is one big overgrown tunnel of creeper and cobwebs? And why have we only got one set of keys and what does this one do?

Like I said, only little things, but they seem huge when you're standing amidst boxes feeling overwhelmed. I'm feeling better now though. Our brother in law crawled into the roof and discovered that Mr Antenna had indeed put a signal amplifier in but the guy had taken the external powerpoint for it (assuming it was the entire thing). But he brought it back when Dave asked, and turned out to be a nice normal sporty guy maybe 10 years older than us and not at all the mad old rip-off merchant I'd been picturing. We had a nice chat. Dave asked him some questions and I of course did my usual overly friendly thing and sucked up re the house, which went over as well as it ever does, but anyway. Afterwards we felt so much better, and then Dave listened to my meltdown over how when you buy a house you get all this other stuff you don't want (like the tunnel o' spiders and the unfenced spa) and pointed out, gently, that it was ours now and we could do what we want. Which, you know, I hadn't thought about.
So anyway, the past week or so has been all about settling in. I thought we were doing really well with the unpacking until I counted the boxes and there are 56 left. We started with 74, so we've only unpacked 18 boxes. What the hell? What's in all those boxes? And where's it all supposed to go?
It's a nice house though, despite the cobwebs. Even the budgie likes it.

still alive

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:41:24 GMT

Oh my goodness, I did not mean to let, what, four months go past without writing an entry. That's forever in blogtime! Is anyone even still out there?

So since I last wrote (I had to go read), my project at work was put on hold, and shortly afterwards I was sunk in a morass of confusion and despair over my job. Ok, so that's a bit of an exaggeration. But everything was up in the air and I didn't know what role I'd have or even if they wanted me to have a role, me and my obsolete skills, and it was pretty depressing. I even ended up bursting into tears over it in the office, definitely my lowest point. So, I didn't write. Then things started perking up and I wanted to write but it's hard to start the habit again, you know? And then things got really busy and I had lots to write about but no time at all. I mean, even Cabbie's been too busy to tweet and he does bugger all all day.

So there.

So this is just a quick entry to say hello and I'm still alive and give a quick update on what's been going on. For verily there is lots.

Work has got better. I'm now in a development team learning to program in Java. It's interesting but also daunting; it's been a long time since I haven't been very very good at what I do so I find it scary. Before I started I did a short "introduction to Java programming" course which I aced and got all confident about my move, and then I looked at real code and ohmygoodness it was terrifying. But, I'm getting there (slowly). I just feel bad because I'm not naturally good at asking people questions so I feel a bit lost, and also because I'm not really concentrating on work at the moment (see below). I feel like I could do a better job, but my focus just isn't here right now.
We bought a new house. It's a little bit bigger and a little bit further out than where we live now and we hope it'll suit us for many years. We settle this Friday and move on Monday. We ended up keeping our current place as renting it out was far less faff than decluttering and prepping to sell and hoping to get it all sorted by time the new place settled (not to mention a much better idea wealthwise), so I close my eyes and pretend not to see our total mortgage amounts or the predictions of interest rate rises. Luckily we are >thisclose< to signing a tenant, so once they're in the majority of the finance stress will go away.

I need to spend less time worrying and more time visualising positive outcomes to situations!

And... (and this is the big one) we're having a baby. I'm due on 27th of March next year, which makes me 18 weeks along now. So far the stress for this is limited to the usual ohshitohshitwhathavewedone? but I expect that will change soon. Especially since I found out the other day that I should already be on lists for daycare if I expect to get any in 2011! Gah.

So yes, lots has been going on. So much to write about! And yet, I haven't. I suck. But I will now. Promise.

Cabbie's tweets for the day

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:45:03 GMT

09:58 had lovely quiet weekend. Monkeys home a lot, I sat with them and helped shred tissues into atoms. how would they manage without me? #

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it hurts on so many levels

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:11:20 GMT

Overheard in the office, apropos of something the person didn't want to happen: "Don't worry, I'll nip it in the butt."

Bud, people. BUD. GAH!

Cabbie's tweets for the day

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:45:02 GMT

12:50 @kymmz see what you did? No more movies for you! #

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Cabbie's tweets for the day

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:45:03 GMT

11:38 Friend in mirror is looking all ratty and uncomfortable. Coincidentally, I am moulting too! We commiserated together. #

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dreary

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:29:49 GMT

Don’t tell anyone, but I didn’t do much work today. I have been feeling off. Not really sick, apart from this damn cough that has been hanging around for about a week, just… off. A little weak, a bit pathetic. It’s probably that I’m still so tired, proper coffee notwithstanding. So instead of doing proper work I did a couple of training courses and cleaned out my inbox. I feel good for it, but it’s bound to come back and bite me sometime.

Tonight I am off to help a friend with her business budget. I don’t know the first thing about creating budgets for businesses, but I am good at our budget and working out how to put money aside for everything we need. Remind me to tell you about that sometime, but not now because I am too tired. The last two weeks has been a ridiculous whirlwind. Luckily tonight is the last commitment in the list. Tomorrow night one of Dave’s friends is staying over but I don’t expect him to be much trouble, and then, oh then… I get to SLEEP IN. And I will. And oh, it will be bliss.

Cabbie's tweets for the day

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:45:04 GMT

15:41 Hello! Sry not been twittering, dabbled in politics for a bit. Turns out people not ready to vote for a budgie, only the usual galahs. #
15:41 So am now back and busy training up my pet monkeys. They are coming on well, considering. #
15:49 @BeakerBeaker hello! A fellow budgie! You have a cool name. I am named after a wine but my monkeys call me Cabbage for fun. So I poo on them #

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loooong weekend

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:41:18 GMT

So this past Monday was Queen's Birthday here in Aus, meaning we got a long weekend, and the Thursday before was Dave's Birthday, so we took that day and Friday off and had a really long weekend.

I was so excited about his birthday, I always am more than my own because I love to treat him, but even more so this time because I'd got him his Present to End All Presents, the Lego Millennium Falcon, which has over 5000 pieces and something like 3 foot long when it's done.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "What the?" and "OMFG that's expensive," and "why on earth would she buy THAT?" and I understand because I thought exactly the same things for years - years! - while he went on and on about it. In the end I bought it for him because it's his 35th birthday so he should get something special, and on our wedding day he surprised me with an absolutely gorgeous pair of diamond earrings, which are shiny and beautiful and I love love love them. So I bought it for him. And yes, it is expensive, and completely blew our gift budget, but he paid for the earrings out of his personal spending money, so I've done the same here.

(The answers to your other questions, in no particular order, are: On the coffee table, apparantly; No, he only makes it once and then admires it in perpetuity (on the fricking coffee table); and no, there is no point to his life once he's finished this, his life's goal, so I guess he will be dying shortly. And the way I know what your questions are without asking is because I've been asking the exact same ones as well. For months.)

The funny thing was I ordered it at the start of April, and then a couple of weeks later he spontaneously started talking about how much he wanted it. I think it was because we had drinks with some new friends and he found out that she bought him some other amazing lego set for Christmas a few years ago, and I think this reminded Dave how much he wanted this. I was worried that I'd dropped some clues about it and I didn't want him to work it out, so I ended up just going along with it and teasing him, hoping he wouldn't realise the truth. And he claims to have been surprised, so that's good. Just as long as he doesn't think nagging works now.

Anyway, so he started making it on Thursday and is getting close to halfway through. Oh, and he's set up the camera on a tripod and is taking a photo of it at each stage, so I'm guessing there'll be a little video of the construction coming up for all to enjoy.

Apart from the construction, it was a lovely weekend. We went to the Food and Wine show on Friday (before the Gordon Ramsay brouhaha broke) and sampled many many chutneys and jams and things in jars, and bought most of them. Then we went into the wine bit and got smashed on the samples in record time. Then we hoisted our backpacks and staggered home on the train, then proceded to fall asleep by 9pm.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday - not a lot happened, which was nice. One of Dave's friends came round, I managed to make it to the gym once, we fetched groceries and I made a huge pot of soup. Other than that we just mooched around home, sleeping in and playing with the budgie. It's funny though, once again I completely overestimated what I could do in the five days. This time it wasn't going to be all chores, I was also going to finally pull out my sewing machine to play with, and do a jigsaw and go for bushwalks and cook masses of food... and yet the time just disappeared. Where does it go? What do I need to do to get all this free time I've heard other people have? What are your secrets? Tell me, or I'll have to win the lottery just to be able to stay home.

Cabbie's tweets for the day

Wed, 13 May 2009 12:45:04 GMT

07:17 @KevinRuddPM enjoy the rest of your term, you won't be getting in next time. when will you realise people on $100K are NOT rich? #
07:19 @KevinRuddPM you are breeding a culture of mediocrity. why would anyone get off benefits when you punish us for mild success? #

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Cabbie's tweets for the day

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:45:03 GMT

16:00 @Hardy_Conure thank you! tho I am not so pretty today, have yoghurt stuck on my forehead and beak. all I will say is - stupid monkey boy #

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Cabbie's tweets for the day

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:45:06 GMT

15:23 @Hardy_Conure you are BEAUTIFUL! I like to sit on my monkey's head too but not when they are lying down #

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Cabbie's tweets for the day

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:45:04 GMT

08:49 @BareEye George, Bubba, Phil, One-Eye and The General ;-p #
08:50 girl monkey had yogurt and rolled oats for brekky. Fun to fling and feels good between the toes. Cleaned feet on shirt, chair arm, table... #

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Cabbie's tweets for the day

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:45:03 GMT

09:12 have you seen how monkey beaks flap when they talk? fascinating. try to grab with your feet. Grab and hold and peck. Fun! Then FLAPPIES! #
15:04 @Jenipurr my monkey changed to lefthanded mouse years ago because of RSI and now righthanded feels weird. Minesweeper helps :-) #
15:07 @LolitaParrot my wooden banana is the best, I tell it all my secrets. it has a rope to preen + a bell to ding also. My paperclip is good too #

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Cabbie's tweets for the day

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:45:03 GMT

14:52 gah! there is RED on the end of girl monkey's fingers. Red! WTF? They are devil fingers now! escape escape escape #

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good weekend

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:50:29 GMT

Good weekend

So did everyone have a good easter break? I'd been looking forward to it since we came back to work, as a chance to hide away from the world with my boy and get a few things done round the house. For a change I was trying to be less ambitious than usual and told myself the only things on my task list were:

mend umbrella
wash and iron all my winter work clothes
organise the butchers block and get Dave to cut a bit off both sides so it would fit where we wanted to put it
tidy study

but secretly I also had

go to the gym or walk every day
reorganise wardrobe
organise kitchen pantry and the cupboard under the sink
balance accounts
shine shoes
do jigsaw (I got a jigsaw for Christmas and have been saving it)
get out fabric and start making those pyjamas
decide on photos for wedding album
snuggle with boy
read book

Now, a lot of those on the second list are just fun things, but there is still far too much for one person to do in four days. Needless to say I pretty much failed on all counts, but we did have a brilliant weekend anyway.

On Friday we did sort out the butcher's block, cutting 6cm from either side so it's now possible to squeeze past it to the dining table, then pulled out all the junk shoved in its shelves and shoved it back in much more neatly. Then we spent the rest of the day cooking a yummy meal of roast lamb marinated in cumin and garlic, vegetable tagine and chocolate mousse. A couple of friends came round in the evening to help us eat it, and verily it was great. Except the mousse, which I put in the coldest bit of the fridge without realising it, and it went all hard and grainy.

On Saturday we went to the gym (tick!), did washing (tick!), pottered around and then went out for dinner and a movie. We also discovered it is not possible to mend my umbrella and I might have to shell out more than $5 for the next one. I also spent a large chunk of time wandering past the butcher's block and admiring its new neatness.

On Sunday afternoon, a girlfriend came over for lunch (shepherd's pie from the leftover lamb) and a chat, then in the evening I watched The Devil Wears Prada and pretended to do the accounts (tick!). And Monday was consumed by the family easter celebration. The rest of the time we snuggled (tick!), pottered, and ate chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

So not much organising got done, but sometimes there are more important things. Not that you heard that from me.

Cabbie's tweets for the day

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:45:03 GMT

10:04 Look, stop holding greens up and making me fly to your hand for them. I am not a performing monkey. YOU'RE the monkey. #
14:46 @Tatterededges congrats! Did you get the place in Brighton then? #
21:43 fancied a wash. explained this to monkeys by diving headfirst into glass of water. So Girl monkey also got bath from tipping me out. #

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We're gonna need a bigger machine

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:02:28 GMT

So as part of our Getting Our Life Organised plan, we figured it was about time we had an actual spare sofabed rather than an inflatable mattress, and we are thinking of getting an Ikea Beddinge, because it is easier to set up than a traditional futon and isn't bulked out by the arms and sofa-shape of a 'normal' sofa bed so therefore won't take up too much space. Also it is Ikea, and I find it hard to go past Ikea.

But while choosing mattresses, I noticed the following care instructions on the one we'd want:

machine wash 60*C
do not bleach
do not tumble dry
iron, medium temperature
do not dryclean
hang freely to dry

Um, what?

ETA: as jenipurr points out, if I would just READ IT PROPERLY there is a washable cover. Well dammit. Now I feel stupider than normal. Although I prefer it my way with the crazy swedes and their enormous washing machines.

Cabbie's tweets for the day

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:45:02 GMT

13:33 @Sampsonthebird they are beautiful. Hang around outside picking at seed bell. they don't even like seeds! it should be MINE #
17:12 @Sampsonthebird I KNOW! Bizarre #

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I don't really hate people, well not ALL people. Definitely not you

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 06:42:09 GMT

This morning I woke up to the sound of heavy rain. I mean, really heavy, pouring down, like we had up in the rainforest in Queensland. It was so beautiful. I had a moment to realise my Lumie alarm clock's light was on, so it wasn't far away from waking up time, then I just lay there enjoying it. We need the rain so much here. My next thought was, shit, the trains will be stuffed. We're getting as bad as the tube here for weather affecting them. But no, they were fine, and I was delivered into work as I should be, more's the pity.

I had a good weekend. We went up to Ballarat on friday night to spend time with the mother. Considering I'd had a migraine all week and was still suffering when we got there, I was pretty good and didn't get too impatient. On Friday night I watched TV with her while Dave played nerd games, and on Sunday we had a first birthday to go to -- good lord but there are a lot of kids around these days. Saturday was the best. We had nothing to do apart from buy a birthday present, no chores even, so we took it easy. First we slept in until 11, then wandered out for a look around some furniture shops. I like it when Dave wants to go furniture shopping. We found a new TV thingy that we both really liked, and realised that all the lighting shops ever are shite. Where are all the good lights? Not in Beacon Lighting that's for sure. Anyway, then we had chips and gravy at Central Square, then went for a drive up past Buninyong and Napoleons and stuff, and then we went home and mum cooked us a proper comfort meal, squishy vegies and pork chops and all. And it was all lovely.

People keep asking me if I've got the honeymoon blues, and I say no, work's just been shitty the past couple of weeks and that's why I'm in a foul mood. But I think I'm used to having Dave all to myself again. That's how it was when we were in England, and how it pretty much was on the honeymoon. Last weekend we saw people then saw other people, then went to ikea with his parents and sister and two little nieces and then out with other people... gah, it was a whirlwind.

So it was really nice to have such a nice weekend. We're going to do the same over Easter, basically lock ourselves away for the duration. Cook some meals, maybe go for a walk, do a jigsaw, or I'll work on the new secret project I've just started and which is a secret just now. Only minimal chores allowed, and no wasting time tooling on the internet. I'm all excited just thinking about it.

Cabbie's tweets for the day

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:45:04 GMT

07:40 @Sampsonthebird hummingbirds! That would be so cool.We have rainbow lorikeets here, I hear them outsde but they don't come to say hello #
11:35 At the grandparents' for the weekend. First she neglects me then she shunts me off here. Starting to think girl monkey doesn't want me :-( #
11:36 at least i'll get spoiled and fed lots of greens and I can tease that stupid dog. maybe i'll learn to bark. hehehehe #

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Cabbie's tweets for the day

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:45:03 GMT

06:07 got called a naughty budgie last night. Me! Naughty! *I'm* not the one who stayed out late. She deserved that nip. #

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