Holidays! - and contact note

Technically I finished work on Friday at 4:10pm , in reality I finished at 12:35pm today trying to tie up some loose ends. Thankfully though I don't have to think about work for the next 3 weeks as I'M ON HOLIDAY!

My first hours of holiday has been jam packed with all those little (and big) things that need to be done before one heads away. It's been great and I'm glad that most of them are now done

I'm stoked to be spending Christmas with Steve before he leaves to live in Canada ~ I'm also really looking forward to a week of no contact down on a remote lake... no internet, no mobile, no nothing... I wonder if I'll survive this technology dearth?

For those who know my mobile number, please be aware that I won't be answering this until 2009 - I'll be in New Zealand from Wednesday until early January and I don't have international roaming. If anything's urgent email me or leave a message on this blog, if you really need to phone email me and I'll try to ring you from Skype or someone else's phone.

Oh.. and if you're waiting on an email reply from me thanks for your patience... I currently I have 248 unread emails and hope to tackle some of that pile tomorrow.

A Pub and A Car - what more could a girl want?

I went to a country pub last night with some mates from work and their husbands - the kind of pub that as you wait in the parking lot for a car you recognise you see a bloke get out of the passenger seat of a holden commodore holding a stubby of VB in one hand and getting a kid out of the back seat with the other... The kind where you state your preference in beer and someone asks "what's a stella?" - thankfully Andrew (Michelle's husband) knew what I was after and was able to get me something similar ... It was a really fun night and I enjoyed letting my hair down with some mates who were courteous enough to walk me to my car and take note of the little things to not make me feel left out as the only single in a group of couples - to have a great night like I did in this situation really speaks loudly of the people I was with.

now... on to the car! I want to buy a car. Having the Magna whilst my parents have been out of the country has made me realise that I just can't go back to the old Camry... so I've been looking and reading and I think I know what I want :) I'm really enjoying driving and would rather like to continue the experience

While a Mini Cooper is fun (and possible - there's a very cute one at a dealership now)... I think I want a Subaru WRX (Ironically my brother just sold his :() all wheel drive, a wee bit of grunt, stunning as all get out and a whole lot of fun to drive. And what, with petrol under 90c a liter I think I may just do it when I get back from NZ! Why not have a wee bit of fun like this as my policeman friend (again, Michelle's husband) said to me last night at the pub - when you're young and don't have to have a certain type of car to suit your family life now's the time to do it.

It's all part of letting my hair down - and liking who God has made me
I'm really enjoying the freedom thing

They're just books... right?

Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial.

Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.

I've been AWOL for a while - stressed - pressured - needing release. Enjoying being by myself while I'm not at work - recovering, doing what I want, relishing in the joy of being happy to be alone and loving the freedom that is ours. (like going to Billy Joel and letting my hair down)

Last night and this morning though I realised the truth of the two scriptures above. I have a weakness in areas of my life that should not be fed or condoned, especially while stressed and tired. Two such weaknesses were fed a great deal with a series of 4 books that I picked up and read in less than a week - finishing at 11:50pm last night... I literally could not put them down.

In retrospect though... all things were not beneficial.

All "Danger Will Robinson, Danger!" signs went out the window as I relished in the story. As I lived the story.

For one, the books were written in the first person from a female's perspective, and they were first and foremost a romance - every kiss she had, every thought that went through her mind, every experience in her life, every desire and dream, every word that was spoken was as if experienced by me - I haven't read a book or books as the case may be that affected me like this - to the extent that after I turned the final page all night I couldn't sleep tossing and turning, reliving the events as if they had happened to me - reality was skewed - the voices in my head not my own but the characters that I'd heard while reading. I gave up at 3am took half a sleeping pill and phoned my folks in NZ only to wake up again at 5:30.. sigh... The book wasn't graphic - but hey.. let's be honest - we all have an imagination and mine ran far away from reality.

For two - The stories were great - I love a good action/romance and I really relished being able to read something a little more "angsty relationship wise" for the first time in well... a LONG time. They were however a wee bit dark being about vampires and the heroine desiring to become one as her relationship with her vampire boyfriend/fiance/husband progresses - there were parts that I identified with and perhaps the story was just too involving for me - too inviting.

For three - I have a dark side - while at school I was toyed with the idea of wicca and am attracted to the supernatural stories of Feist, Eddings, Jordan, Paolini, Rowling and while not so overt (but hugely loved) Tolkien & Lewis. There's a great fascination in these stories for me and I know to keep from reading them back to back as I tend to get lost in the story.

For four - I wanted to get lost - I wanted to forget - I wanted to forget about life for a while and be entertained

For five - well... I guess you get the picture by now.

You may also be wondering why on earth I'm writing this or being so personal about it - for goodness sakes it was just a book - PG in terms of graphic descriptions compared to what can be found out there - it's for teenagers! Yes - I am older than a teenager, but I also have weaknesses, fault lines, temptations that perhaps make this alright for a teenager to read but not me. More inviting than actually going out and getting in a relationship - why not just pretend - why not get lost in something that is fantasy, because it sure is a whole lot more fun then I've been. I'm a Christian, I love Jesus, but what if... what if I was in her place?

Why not? Because sometimes things just aren't that good for you. Yeah - you're just reading a book that's just a fairytale - but things like this can have teeth (excuse the pun) that can affect you more than you anticipated.

I'm writing this because I'm not alone. We all have weaknesses and we all have strengths - and we need to be honest with ourselves and each other as to what they are.

Sitting in Not for Sale Seats

Last night was un-freaking-believable!

One of my favorite musicians for a very long time has been Billy Joel - thanks to my brother, Andrew for introducing me to his songs at an early age, I became a fan firstly because he was and then because I actully really liked the music.

When I saw that Billy Joel would be in Brisbane I was so excited to go, and two of my friends from work wanted to get Gold seats so I joined in and paid the bit extra... how needless! As we were walking in the doors this guy approached us asking if we wanted front row seats (we were originally in the stands) thinking he was a scalper we politely said no until he convinced us he was with the crew and Billy apparently likes to save some seats right at the front for a little... how did he say it "eye candy"... While I've never thought of myself like that before, and I'm still not to sure about the morality of the whole thing far be it from me to turn down FRONT ROW SEATS!

Pictures coming soon - I forgot my camera so we're getting pictures from the other girls who were "chosen"...

some funny stories from the night?

• I realised how innocent I was and SO not a groupie when the girl two seats down from me had her breast exposed and Sam had to stop me from mentioning it to her!
• One of the guitarists was close to the girl in terms of dress sense considering what we could see of him :(
• I managed to keep my hands off Mr Joel... but I can't say the same for my friends!
• Best song of the night - We didn't start the fire - we were all up at the stage by that time (the signal was given that we could get up from our seats at River of Dreams) and had a hillarious time dancing away

Feeling very very brazen and not at all myself I sign off after my first every rock and roll concert with the following thoughts

1. I got one of the guitar picks from the evening which was really cool...
2. Considering we never would have got the seats if we'd been with any partners for once I relished in being single :D