The closest I'll get to an island holiday

Mel and I are in desperate need of a holiday. We haven't had an actual holiday together in 4 years and Mel hasn't had a proper break since he started in his job 2.5yrs ago! So on a whim, we decided we're going to Fiji in January. The biggest deciding factor... CHEAP NANNIES!!! Let's face it, no holiday is going to be ideal unless we can get some child-minding. We've got half a squillion frequent flyer points so we figured this was very do-able.

How wrong we were. Who were we kidding to think we could book a last-minute holiday during school holidays and get all the dates and flights of our choosing? Duh!!

Mel has spent several nights on the internet scouring options and at this point, it's not looking good. We haven't given up hope yet but in the meantime, I'm making do with some "Tahitian escape" body scrub (which does smell fabulously like a beach holiday) and a rub-on tan. I'm still going to lose 3kg and buy a new bikini and if I have to wear it in Annabelle's wading pool, I bloody well will.

I got a call

On Friday morning I got a call from UniSA. Just when I was thinking "Oh I SO hope I don't get into uni because I SO don't even want to do a stupid Masters program. What a waste of time and money and who'd want to be a stupid psychologist anyway?! No way, I just want to get back into coaching and get a gig on Sunrise (as you do) and be fabulously famous and rich and oh, maybe read tarot cards on the side just for fun", which really means "I'd love to go to uni but I know I'm not going to get in so I'll just start preparing myself for the inevitable rejection by focusing on all my other fantastic but totally unrealistic options so I'm not completely devastated when I get the thanks-but-no-thanks letter in the mail".

And it was working too.

But then I got the call on Friday to say that they haven't yet received my second referee report and could I please chase it up. So I emailed my lecturer and cracked the whip and he called UniSA and then he emailed me back to say 'Never fear, no deadlines have been breached, your glowing referee report is on its way'. And with that, all my telling myself I don't want to go to uni went out the window. I started furiously looking up the UniSA timetable and noting class dates and times in my diary and mentally scheduling coaching clients to be able to pay for daycare and still study full-time and before I knew it, I was totally excited about the prospect. And I haven't even got an interview yet!!! For all I know, they were chasing EVERYONE'S referee reports because they can't assess applications until they get them in..

Oh well, I can only wait and see I suppose but patience never was my strong point. If they do reject me (bastards), I've still got a personal contact at Sunrise.

More from David Thorne

In case you weren't immediately compelled to read all the pages on David Thorne's site after reading the hilarious spider email, be sure you at least go and read this exchange between David and a non-fan. I think I'm actually in love with David Thorne. No really. I'm planning to print off the spider drawing and go ask him to autograph it.

PS. To get a bit of context, David works for this company. Many of the pages on his site refer to his work colleagues, most of whom obviously have a sense of humour. One obviously doesn't.

The Spider Drawing

This is about the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. It's an actual email conversation between an Adelaide man and a worker from a local utilities company, about an amount outstanding on his bill.

Read the conversation HERE.

The spider drawing that was offered in lieu of payment has become famous and fetched $10,000USD on Ebay. The buyer has no intention of paying the money and the seller has no intention of chasing him for the money. It's just FUNNY!

A very sucky afternoon

This afternoon the CEO came to our office for a meeting with three of us (three of us being the 'management' team). She wanted to make us aware of some issues; ie., complaints directed at one or all of us by clients

I was feeling very annoyed and angry when I walked out of work towards my car. Then I heard an awful BANG and looked up to see a twisted motorbike lying on the road, a smashed up car and a bunch of motorcyle gear (storage boxes etc) flying through the air into a nearby park. The only thing I couldn't see was the rider. It was awful. By the time I walked the 20 metres or so to the corner, he had people around him, holding his head and soothing him. He didn't have his helmet on so I don't know if it got knocked off in the crash or if someone removed it. It seems he was going straight ahead through the lights when a car turning right obviously didn't see him and ploughed him down.

The driver of the car was walking around with a look of shock on his face, holding his head in his hands. People were jumping out of cars, running from the footpath, getting out their mobile phones to call the emergency services. A passerby started directing traffic since it was backing up. Another guy was trying to take control of the situation and tried to stop him directing traffic and there was almost a fist fight between the two of them?! It was SO awful. I can still hear the bang and see that poor man lying on the road and I don't even know if he survived. I stayed until the ambulance arrived just to see that he was alive. I keep thinking that he's someone's son or brother or husband or father and how all their lives were changed in that moment. And the driver of the car too.

It certainly put my work worries into perspective.

Annabelle

Some pics my mum took while she was here to visit...

Update

1. Annabelle is sick. She has been sick for three days now, the poor little thing. It started off as spewing and a fever on Sunday, then we thought she was improving yesterday (Mel stayed home with her) but more raging fevers overnight so I am at home with her today. She's been asleep for over two hours now so hopefully she's improving. :(

2. I did my tarot course on the weekend and it was good. :) I met some nice people, but really it taught me that I already know the tarot pretty well and probably don't need to pay people to learn unless it's from a real guru. There can be so many hidden meanings with the cards, and learning to read them in a cluster is quite a skill so I still have work to do but anyway.. I love it. I've had my cards out every day. 'tis fun. Reading anyone? (Nat, I'm doing yours NOW!!)

3. My work is almost unbearable. I say "almost" because I'm still there, tolerating it.. but not for much longer I don't think. My one glimmer of hope is that the Big Boss has assured me today that she is aware of the problems and is addressing them so I have some faith that maybe things will improve. I think I'm giving it until the end of the year though and if nothing's changed, I'll resign. By then I'll know the outcome of my Masters applications too so I'll have a better idea of what my options are. Once thing's for sure... I'd rather be home with my baby than selling my soul to a bunch of dickheads.

4. I started coaching again. Yay! I haven't done any coaching for a few months since my last client went overseas but I had an urge to get in touch with a lovely, talented woman who was a past client just to see how she's going, and she happened to be thinking about doing some more coaching, so there you go.. The timing was perfect and we're catching up by Skype. Given my excruciating work situation, it's really made me start to think seriously about trying to get a client base here in Adelaide. Finding the time/energy is the hardest thing, but maybe in the new year it's something to pursue.

Sounds like my girl is awake. More later.

Slow news week

I've got heaps of things to update you on but never seem to have the time or inclination to sit down and type. Or upload the pictures! And when I do, I'm suddenly joined by a two-year-old, like I just have been (as if on cue) and this time she is a very smelly little two-year-old so I'm off to change a nappy. *sigh*

But in short - my parents visited, I'm booked into a tarot course next weekend (I'm so excited I could actually pee) and we've seen some really good movies lately! So life is chugging along and I'll be back with more details soon.... :)