Wedesday 15th May

Today my joyous moment was buying one of those block coloured uni hoodies with the uni's name screaming all over it. They were on a two for one sale, and luckily today was one of the few days I was walking round campus, between classes, with a friend around. (It's sad, I know, but my one hour break between all my classes, means no-one has a remotely similar timetable to me).Yay for uni pride and unique timetabling.

hummm..

So I've been trying to think of a happy thing to write about, but I can't really seem to pinpoint any one thing. Perhaps a chicken and avocado sandwich? I've been trying to get my hands on one of these from the canteen for a week now because they look so absolutely delicious, all toasted and oozing with onions and avocado and all that goodness and healthiness- they're always there at about 10am when I've just had breakfast so I'm not really hungry and by midday they're all gone! Today I made the trek halfway across campus to the canteen in my quest for this toastie and I ended up trekking back to the station and resorting to junk food.. again, although admittedly, a burger and fries and icecream is quite satisfying, in that oily bad but yummy sense.. and cheaper too.  

Friday April 26

In light of recent events, my mum has inspired me to write a 'happy journal', a journal with one happy thing a day.

So today I'll start with the easiest thing. Family. Family for me has meant more than it ever has; I guess I've always taken it for granted, even when I think I'm not, but for the first time in my whole life I've learnt to savour a simple family lunch, a dinner, the quiet footsteps down the corridor in the middle of the night, just being able to sleep under the same roof together, having people around you who know almost every page of your life. The greatest gift I've ever had is my family, and that is definitely something to be happy about.

A changing tide

These last two weeks, I've had one of those painfully and devastatingly life changing events that puts your life into perspective and makes all those petty little matters and worries that I've ever rambled about feel so folly and ridiculous. This week I learnt to truly understand and appreciate that life and time are frail, unpredictable, fleeting and so, so valuable; that each moment we spend with our families and relatives and friends are precious- I just wish I could've captured every loving memory not only in my mind but in hardcopy to cherish forever- and that these moments can be cut short so quickly, so abruptly, so suddenly...that life and function can deteriorate in an instant, that the truths and genetics of living are real and unforgiving. I don't know what more we will encounter, where things will go from here, but for now all we can do is embrace each day as they come, cherish every moment, capture every piece of happiness; hope, wish, love-I just hope we're all strong enough.   

My 10th or so Easter Show Experience!!

For those who've been around me for a while or who've seen the wardrobe in our house toppling with showbags collected from years gone by, they'll know that Easter for me means..the ROYAL EASTER SHOW! So every year, provided I'm in town, I celebrate the release of showbags on my msn status (which sadly won't ever happen again on msn!), I print off vouchers and daily highlight plans- where I diligently highlight events and their times-more diligently then any homework I've ever done, I check the weather in advance for the perfect day and I try and rally up my friends and persuade them to come to the show with me; flooding them with stories of food dome sampling, sheep shearing, pig racing, showbag buying fun. Usually I'm pretty unsuccessful and I end up dragging along my trusty family, something they've become pretty accustomed to since I was about 5. This year was yet again one of those years where finding a non related willing person who didn't scorn the show as a place for little kids was almost impossible (although the rows of parked prams outside the farmyard nursery was pretty impressive); so I went with my cousin.

Arriving at 11am I got my free, well free after I paid the entry fee, breakfast at the cereal store, and was greeted by the smiling faces of the 1D truck. My day could not've started better! We did the typical yearly stuff; ate dagwood dogs, were starstruck by the Wiggles, watched racing pigs through a gap in the cloth under the stands, ate oysters at the food dome and patted alpacas.

This year I bought 3 showbags; which I admit were pretty impulsive despite the three hours of exhausting deliberation in a packed showbag pavillion. After buying a gym bag with magazines, I thought, I want a backpack showbag too, and after that I just felt like buying another one since I was there. I would've bought another bag, except I needed money for dinner. What was hilarious though, were the number of parents in the showbag pavillion groaning 'we've been here for hours' at their kids and  'we've walked around this place three times and you still haven't picked one, if you don't pick one now we're leaving.' Perks of going without parents.

Anyway, all in all, I had yet another year of fun at the Easter Show (although all the baby goats kept running away from me for some reason), I am content with my showbag collection for now, and I have added to my ever growing number of showtime memories : )

Allysway-my highlights of the week

This week, well for two nights, I finally felt like a normal teen, rather than the nerd who watches way too much tv and whose idea of a social life revolves around day time activities of shopping, cafe hopping and going out for lunch.

Partying it up and a day of calm

Today I woke up at 8am and felt completely normal; free from the pressure of the usual Tuesday morning assignment rush, no urgency to run out the door and sprint for the bus, my mind not throbbing with house beats from the night before- a very calm, wonderfully peaceful morning : ) I got up and ate my normal bowl of cereal and an extremely  nutella-d piece of bread- I don't even bother spreading my nutella anymore, I eat it in giant chocolate like clumps. I was feeling so good I even washed the clothes, am about to wash a week's worth of drink bottles and watched Taylor Swift's '22' video which I absol-mal-utely love, even though I'm not 22! I totally wish I was right now! And what's great about that video is that it makes me feel so not old, so I'll never complain about how old I'm getting again! (except maybe on Saturday when I'm surrounded by a bunch of 8 year olds who call me 'Miss'.)  

So you might be wondering, where have I been for the last week or so? I actually went on camp!(where everyone and everything including windows and doors got smashed.) A typical booze filled college party complete with college cups, vomiting, funny costumes, and other gossipy scandals. I was sadly enough one of about three sober people, who stuck to a cup of punch, and spent extra time on the non alcholic activites station to get out of skulling beer; and you probably guessed it, I was the vaguely responsible one who sat listening to the drunk rants of friends trying to sober themselves and work out who they made out with.

Nevertheless partying and dancing crazily past midnight while sober is still totally fun (until the photos of my ridiculous 'dancing' get posted on fb)and I have a huge respect for any non-drinking kid who has the strength to withstand the peer pressure of skulling alcohol (which led to very embarrassing mornings for a lot of drunk and later passed out people who went overboard on unlimited alcohol.) Somehow I still managed to wake up the next morning feeling like I'd passed out, with absolutely no idea where I was and no idea why I have a bruise on my arm. I had a pretty interesting time, but I did miss Ellen in Sydney, which was pretty devastating!

study study study boooo : (

So you might've thought that I'd totally neglected my blog after a week of post-less-ness; but I'm happy to declare that I'm still blogging!- just battling with time at the moment and drowning under piles of assignments and quizzes in an attempt to 'settle' into uni life,and let me tell you, the time they organise for you to 'settle' is really a two week sweet period to let you find your way round the campus and have your first introductory 'here's the schedule, this is your textbook' talk. Then comes the third week when they bombard you with a tonne of endless weekly assessments- which is where I am right now. This week I handed in the most embarrassingly- poorly- footnoted, barely edited assignment I can imagine, which I managed to scramble into the computer lab and send in 3 minutes before the due date (well due time really).  Thankfully it was due at midday so I had the morning and of course the class before to work on it, but sadly the internet was cut off in that room, which was quite the drama. Assessments just keep coming and coming, with new content we practically just learnt! I haven't been to clubs that I signed up and paid for, even though they're meant to help you settle, but how could they possibly help you settle when you haven't even done your homework readings?! I have nevertheless managed to sample almost every lunch available at the food court- a costly process, made slightly easier with O week coupons. So I wish I could say I'm loving Uni life, but really..let's hope it gets better fast!

Allygator

Flats! So I was at an event in a crowded room where we had to stand around, network, talk for a couple of hours. In the morning I'd thought, I'll wear my comfy flats. Anyway by the time the launch had finished my feet were aching, my back was aching..next time I'm rocking up in sneakers, so much for smart casual!

how hectic is uni

So last week I was super pumped for uni- I had all my brand new colour coded folders ready complete with sheets of reinforced lined paper and gripped pens. This week I'm exhausted from walking across campus daily, semi consciously dozing off and extraordinarily tempted to leave lectures halfway through, bombarded with textbook readings and sheets of paper- it's amazing how one week of uni can just throw your life into complete disarray! My room is absolutely flooded with random lecture notes and paper piled roughly over the floor, my desk is, well what desk?! What was once a nice long contemporary ikea table is now a sea of manilla folders and diaries and more sheets flying everywhere, it's almost impossible to clear a flat spot to work! Last week I thought I was completely in control. This week, well..   

ALLYSWAY- my weekly highlights

This week I've decided to post 'allysway' to celebrate my first week of uni, and one less day of work!
I could easily embed an 'allygator' post here about the monotony of lectures and the inevitable half an hour of textbook and society advertising before each lecture; but instead I will tell you about the freebies of O week.
So over the last few days I've managed to collect a vast array of pens, canvas bags, a vibrantly colourful collection of post it notes, rulers, a microfibre towel, a canteen/bottle, a tonne of coupons, a keyring bottle opener, highlighters, cans of coke, muffins, snow cones, and other strange concoctions and some other bits and pieces- I love freebies! ( I am sad however that I missed out on free pancakes and  usbs and gym bags and battery charging ipod cases (which I actually really need!), but nevertheless free stuff is always good and I am satisfied with my week's worth of hoarding.)

First day of Autumn

What a way to signify the end of Summer with a down pour of rain- and a runny nose. My sore throat seems to be getting slightly better, I've been trying to cure it with everything- salt water, honey, grapes, vitamin c, bottles of soft drink - I'm not really sure if they actually work but let me tell you one thing, one cup of chilled ice tea is a very welcome temporary relief for a burning sore throat.

Today I woke up early to buy tickets online for a camp and I lingered around the computer waiting for tickets to be released. Turns out I couldv'e woken up about an hour later and I still would've been fine. As a non alcohol drinker I also freaked out when I read that a huge chunk of the ticket goes toward the cost of unlimited alcohol, so I guess I'll just have to get my money's worth of lemon lime and bitters (sad I know).

Tues 26 Feb

Today I made it to 200 pageviews!!! Woot!

So I started Uni yesterday and what a hectic day it was! Sadly I have made no new friends except perhaps a bag filled with brick weighing textbooks and I spent most of the day hanging around the courtyard, collecting free diaries and pens, signing up for stuff and trying to get away from people who tried to sign me up to their random clubs. At one point one of the clubs signed me up themselves after getting enough information from me from conversation, even though I told them I was busy every day they have a meeting! I also had my first lecture which I won't bore you with the details with because I would fall asleep before then and I ended up looking at Oscars best dressed links anyway.. 

Wednesday 20 Feb

Today I'm so tired from working late and next week I've been scheduled to work even later*sigh*.
Anyway I realised last night that my holidays are fast dwindling away and that I've had almost a whole 4 months off already! It's so incredible how the holiday routine is so easy to fall into even if sometimes it feels as if you're running out of purpose and things to do; but now that they're almost over I've realised how much there is to do and that I'll probably never do them! (for instance, I've been 'cleaning my room' for four months and the most I've chucked out is a scrap of paper)

Tuesday 19 Feb

Today I walked around the whole block which is on a hill so I literally went round and round the (mini) mountain and I put the clothes out to dry (that's right Mum, I do do work at home away from the computer). It's now 9am, which is amazing because I'm usually fast asleep, happily in another world at this time, but the sun was penetrating my curtains at about 7am and my room was slowly cooking me so I had to wake up. I managed to hand out two flyers today at a bus stop and it was really awkard even though I vaguely knew one of the two people. I'm still looking out for a new job, I've been sending resumes here and there, checking online, obsessively looking in the corner of store windows quite often to find that the exciting piece of paper is just a security notice or opening hours sheet. I also need to buy uni books, but once again there is a Chinese New Year superstition that means I can't buy them till next week after the New Year's fortnight, so by the time I get my books we'll be through a few chapters already. And for lunch today I'm looking forward to spag bol! Yum! : )

Yesterday was Sunday

As you can probably guess from the title, today is Monday and this morning I woke up at 7.45am after missing two alarms, and scrambled out of bed, skipping breakfast, hoping to get to the bus stop in time and yet I still missed the 8:10am crowd. I felt better than the school girl though, who was practically falling off the kerb frantically waving as the bus drove right past. I might have done that a few times in my school career, but I was always pretty calm, if not exctied, about missing the bus and spending class time strolling to school.

So yesterday was Sunday and I finally managed to buy some work clothes that fit! (and weren't too expensive.) So now I have a pair of black work pants and a black skirt, so on sweltering 30 degree days I no longer have to stand outdoors in my black winter jeans, absorbing heat and sweat and my endless moans. Luckily I bought a pair of peach flats about 3 weeks ago, because my favourite black ones are officially falling to pieces, and I'm not allowed to buy shoes until the end of this week because of some Chinese New Year superstition. I also got back in time to watch 'Elementary' which I've been following since it started airing on tv  (my mum is an avid Sherlock Holmes fan) and like most crime shows it's pretty fascinating, slightly predicatable, and plays on my mind enough to keep me awake for an extra half hour at night and make me slightly paranoid in the morning. I've never been a crime fan but I have definitely grown a lot since the days when I had nightmares after watching Mission Impossible.

I also went to a huge CNY dinner on Saturday in the city, but that was pretty average; basically everyone was frocked or suited up around big tables with nice large plates of food that was served after the lion dancing and the inevitable rambly speeches and photos of politicians who all admirably but awkwardly ended with a couple of lines of mandarin and an energetic and completely off  'gung hei fat choi.' There were more speeches than usual, not surprisingly, I mean it is election year and some even unsubtly alluded to the election and its date. There was also this new rule where raffle winners have to stay in there seat and wait for people to bring their prize to them, which was pretty underwhelming compared to every other year when the winners run to the stage shouting 'I won, I won'. ( I did that last year, perhaps that's why they changed the rules). Sadly we didn't win anything even with fifty odd tickets in the raffle draw, which was a slight let down.
   

ALLYGATOR-my weekly bite at the world

This week I was going to pass on 'allygator' because it seemed too selfish to complain when nothing has really gone wrong these past few days. That was until this afternoon.

I love my house in suburban Sydney, I really do. It's spacious, it's on a peaceful street filled with kids on bikes and trees, we have a vibrant garden bursting with colour- and here lies the problem- why do people feel the need to cut down trees and trim them and blow leaves every week, for goodness sake, just let them grow. Right now my left ear is being bombarded with the noise of our neighbour across the road doing some hideously loud mechanical tree chopping in the backyard, which has been going on for the last few hours. In my right ear, the house on the other side is also trimming hedges with one of those higher pitched mechanical saws. I have closed all the windows and there is no place in my house which is free from blaring tree cutting noise. Honestly how many trees do you need to cut people? SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT AND MY EARS AND MY SANITY PLEASE!!!

Today I went to a cafe

I'm beginning to understand the whole idea of sitting in a brightly lit rustic cafe, sipping on a warm cappucino with a plate of cinnamon and ricotta waffles (even if it's not in Florence, sigh, one day). I went out to brunch with some friends and whilst it was rather costly for a plate of four waffles, it was a very quaint and artistic cafe with the whole antique aspect going; wooden shelves, little bronze dial up phone figurines holding up table numbers, menus printed on scrunched brown recycled paper in typewriter font, brown opaque glass bottles of salt (I admit these looked like something out of the doctor's clinic) - its like the place was designed for instagram. But what a welcome relief from the stunning silence of the office where the only thing we ever hear is the deep whir of the air conditioner and the person who frantically types. If only I'd gone to the cafe last Wednesday..(that's a Taylor Swift reference btw!) 

an exciting valentine's day

This afternoon I spent 6 and a half hours facing a computer writing year 5 math questions so really I shouldn't be typing anymore or looking at a screen for that matter. But at work today we all got given a little red pocket with 5 bucks tucked in it! Which was really sweet considering most people who work there aren't even Chinese. So I'm slowly being won over by the nice perks and food and stuff although that I guess even that doesn't really alleviate the tedium of paper work.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Seeing as I'm lonely and about to go to work today I thought why not share the love with my fam & friends (&dog) anyway. So here's my new wall of hearts! Enjoy : ) (and I hope you guys can work out which category you're in!)