« December 2018 | Main | February 2019 »
Oof, it is so hot and I have so much to do at work so I shouldn't be wistfully looking at pictures of NYC in the snow.
I have plugged my headphones in, listening to MIA and Tribe called Quest and working a list.
I dropped the kid at the airport this morning. She is off to a design camp in Sri Lanka followed by a visit to an ethical elephant sanctuary. So jealous. Also, last minute purchase of travel insurance - nope, nope, not even reckless me is travelling without health insurance.
It's late, I've had a tiresome day and I want to be upbeat and optimistic instead of complainy and whiny so here is a picture of Charlie looking out the window. 6 days and counting.
I feel I've wasted time today but I did rearrange the furniture again, did all the ironing and cleaned the house. I also made a tour of the local street libraries, picked up 3 books and deposited 9.
Last night was sweltering hot again but today is much cooler. I've been watching Shetland to enjoy people in knitted clothing and waxed jackets. Ciaran Hinds has been featuring in the episodes I've been watching. I remember him at the Glasgow Citizen's, when the tickets all cost 50p and the repertoire was usually either Brecht or Jacobean tragedies. I had the biggest crush on him at 19. He's still an imposing presence in his 60s.
Such a crazy work week that I am still carrying in my neck and shoulders. I had a meeting cancelled and left early and went and got a pedicure and eyelash tint. I think I fell asleep during the tint as I am pretty sure I heard myself snoring. I have given up on mascara as I just end up with watering eyes so the tint is the way to go but does not last long enough for my liking.
I saw the dr yesterday morning and got a referral to a foot surgeon for my stupid bunion. It has gone from unsightly to actual pain and is now pushing the next toe out of alignment so I think surgery is in my future. I said to my dr, I felt so ancient coming in complaining about my bunions and he laughed out loud.
At least there is an extended weekend with no plans but doing some more decluttering and cleaning and reading and trying to get a neck and shoulder massage.
On the grateful side of the tally:
I had the first full night's sleep in a week what with flying to Singapore and lots of early mornings, including being on a 6.20am flight to Melbourne yesterday and then driving to Ballarat and back. I ended up staying at the Crown Metropol and despite my dislike of the casino complex it was the nicest room I have stayed in for ever (including lights I could work out and a decent hairdryer!)
Saturday we drove to Sydney for the day and admired a small baby, packed up some of the kid's stuff* and went to see In the Heights at the Opera House. It was a lot of fun and we are all now channelling our New York street Spanish (practically non-existent but we parrot the sounds). I have no idea what happened on Sunday but it lasted about 2 minutes.
I have a lot of work on and am looking forward to going home tonight.
*She is planning to move to a share house and has to shed many of her belongings over the next two months so we are doing it in stages.
It's still unspeakably hot. I was talking to a young man who works outdoors and he said they were starting at 6 and finishing at 11am as it was too hot to be outside any longer. I got sunburnt on my arms waiting for a taxi for 5 minutes. We had some terrific storms last night but it doesn't seem to be doing much to bring the temperatures down. The candles in the lanterns outside are a molten mess.
I was talking to an uber driver today who is studying medicine. He wants to move to Canada before he has to go on placement as he can't stand the heat and is scared of being sent to some remote Australian country town. Apparently the overnight temperature was 35 in some place out near Broken Hill.
Anyway, I am enjoying my quiet life and my reading challenge. It certainly improves your mental health not looking at your phone in the evenings.
Man, it's a good thing, I am doing dry January else I would taken to drink with all the stuff that is going on at work.
Anyway, it's nearly the weekend, I am hoping to cuddle a small baby tomorrow. We're going to Sydney to see In the Heights and then bringing the youngest home as she is working from our city for a couple of weeks.
One thing about having had a blog for a long time is that you probably start to repeat yourself but indulge me.
When I first moved to Australia, I missed the familiar comforts of home: reading the Guardian, listening to Radio 4, buying knickers at Marks and
Spencers, browsing book shops of reasonably priced items. I used to travel for work and family visits and come home with suitcases laden with books, boxes of tea that didn't cost me $8 and Jaffa cakes. As the years have passed, the internet made a lot more of that stuff accessible though now flipping amazon stops me buying books from the US and forces me to the woeful Australian site. Even M&S ships to Australia though their return policy is sad.
Being in Singapore, I thought I would pop into the local M&S to see what the selection is like in person and buy some of my favourite knickers. On the plus side, the shops in Paragon mall are open until 10pm. That was the only good thing. Everything on display seemed bright red, I'm guessing a shout out to Chinese New Year and new clothes, but every item I touched was a horrible, synthetic fabric, in terrible displays. They did not have the knicker pack in the colour I wanted (standard black) and was 30% more expensive on what I pay on the on line site anyway. I left empty handed and went back to my on line shopping basket which was offering 20% off for this week.
Recent Comments