Date Night

Unfortunately, a couple of days after Christmas Ali had to leave. It was wonderful spending Christmas with her, and I hope to go see her out west sometime soon!

The day after Ali left, Laura arrived in Montreal. Patrick was also in town, so we started thinking about New Years plans. 

The night Laura arrived was the night that Dave was taking me out to dinner for Christmas in Old Montreal. We got all dressed up and went to this amazing restaurant called Le Saint Gabriel.  First we went out for a drink with Laura and Patrick in the area. The walk was extremely cold, but it was beautiful outside.  Old Montreal looked like something out of a picture book. Everything glittered with fresh snow, and the icy cobblestone roads shone. The restaurant was beautiful.  It was a really old building, with high raftered ceilings, dim lighting and a huge, blazing fire burning in an open fireplace.  The host took our jackets and moved us to a lovely table. It was a great experience.  The food was lovely and different to anything I’d had before.  They made this amazing cocktail with vodka, grapefruit and maple syrup which sounds weird, but it was delicious, and something you would only find in Montreal. Of course, the company was the best.

After dinner, which took a few hours, we picked up Laura and Patrick and went to beet Caroline and Ben at this place Ben Kunde on St Denis Street. We were lucky enough to get a table and stayed for a couple of drinks. Great night.

Christmas Time Is Here

I was feeling really good on Christmas Day. The night before, we had a blast making cookies and cinnamon buns, listening to tunes. Afterwards, the gang watched “Beer Fest” and had some cocktails and beers, it was pretty fun. The game: when anyone in the movie drinks, you do too. It’s a dangerous game if not played carefully, which I did!

Clydes’ Christmas Eve party was on, and a whole lot of people I hadn’t seen in ages said they were going. I didn’t know when I’d see some of them next, so Dave and I decided to rock up. The roads were made of ice and puddles that night – a walk that was supposed to take less than 10 minutes took more than 20. When we got there, there was a big lineup! It’s been a long time since I was staff over there, so naturally I didn’t really know anyone at the door. Dave and I decided to wait a little while, and if the line wasn’t moving, we’d leave. The line did move, and we got in. The place was an absolute zoo. Seriously, you could hardly move in there. Dave and I managed to get ourselves a drink, and manoeuvred our way through the place. I was annoyed because I didn’t see the people who said they were going to be there, and we were lost in a river of drunken Clydes regulars! Dave and I went to seek refuge upstairs, where it was more bearable. The one thing that was weird was that it was really hot in the place. To add to that, the coat check was full. Looking over the balcony, we didn’t see anyone we knew. We ran into Angus and a few others and they were drinking their alcohol out of some sort of Viking horn. We decided it was about time to leave. As we headed towards the entrance , I spotted Mikey. Yay! It was good to see him. Had a good chat, and then Dave and I took off. Seeing Mike meant the night out wasn’t a loss.

We got home and in the living room the Christmas tree was beautiful. It smelled so good, and it was lit up and decorated magnificently. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a nicer Christmas tree. Dave and I enjoyed the moment, sitting in the room lit with Christmas lights before going to bed.






Christmas morning was crazy. Everyone got happily spoiled – it’s a good thing I packed light! Ali made everyone Christmas cards, they were amazing. At the end of the present frenzy the entire floor space was covered with wrapping paper, it was such a sight.












For breakfast we had homemade cinnamon buns, bacon, juice...mmm mmm! I hung out and helped a bit around the house later on. I went upstairs that afternoon and Dave was fast asleep. Awwww. The gang came over for dinner – Nana, Ann-Marie, Aunty Pat & Bea, Doro, Ali’s pal Jen and Brian. I can

say without a doubt that it was the best dinner I had ever tasted, complete with roast turkey, stuffing, potatoes au gratin, snow peas, Brussels sprouts, sweet potaoes, cranberries and gravy. YES!

My Dad said a grace, and I was surprised to feel tears in my eyes...we were remembering Papa. I wish he could have been there with us. I really missed him this Christmas.

Dave's Here!

A couple of days after the tree party, Dave arrived in Montreal. he had been in the UK visiting friends, seeing his sister and attending his cousin's wedding. I was excited to see him, excited for Ali to meet him, they had just missed each other in the summer of 2006.



Dave was arriving at a reasonable hour, 7:00 PM or so. Weeks before, I had planned a welcome/happy birthday party for him. The surprise kind of got ruined because of Facebook wall posts, but that was okay. At least he was prepared. It's always funny to see someone when you haven't seen them in a long time, even if you live with them most of the time. It was so nice to see Dave standing there at the airport, and to give him a huge hug.




It was a really good night, everyone seemed to be in high spirits. There was pool playing and bar action going on downstairs, karaoke and kitchen talk upstairs. Logan's friends turned up as well, which was fun. Nat had arrived in Montreal from Oz just the night before, it was great to see her come out. Luke and Lee were there as well, I hadn't seen them in ages. It was a really good night.




Even though I had gone out, I hadn't properly gone walking outside since I arrived. I felt intimidated by the cold weather! Luckily for me, Dave was really enthusiastic to get out there. Dave, Ali and I went walking in the village, and it was actually really pleasant!



Dave arrived on the 23, and Christmas was right around the corner.

Ali, and more amazing surprises.

A few days later Ali arrived! It was so incredibly exciting to see her. She is such a refreshing bundle of energy. The night she arrived we all had great talks until late. The next day, while Ali was sleeping Dad and I went to Costco to do the Christmas grocery shopping. Got home and had a great dinner with Ali and everyone.

The cold weather was, once again, a huge shock. I was pretty apprehensive about going out most of the time, silly as it sounds. I ventured out for the first time to meet an old friend. It had been probably 8 years since Jeanne and I saw each other. It's funny, but I was a little bit nervous to see her. There was no need to worry though; it was like we never missed a beat, like we had seen each other the day before, only a time device had made us into two adults. Jeanne knew the bartender at McKibbins, and I found it pretty hard to keep up with everyone, haha. Jeanne's boyfriend and some friends arrived, and I said my goodbyes, met Ali at Brutopia, and went home with her.

Ali's visit was full of fun. We even went family bowling!!

One of the most memorable times was when the whole family went to see the Nutcracker. We had a box for the family, got all dressed up...the dancing was so, so gorgeous. The ballerina who had the role of the sugarplum f airy was just breathtaking.

One night, as I was getting ready for bed I heard a male voice downstairs. It wasn't my Dad or Logan. What the? I wondered if Ali had brought a friend home! Then there was a knock on the bathroom door. Warily, I opened it a crack...and there was Brian! What a great surprise! He had decided last minute to visit from Vancouver. Seeing him again made me remember how much I missed him. He seemed so grown up, Vancouver seems to be the place for him.

In the week before Christmas we had our tree party. The tree party is a big tradition in my family, and I was so much looking forward to it. I was upset with myself because I had gone out the night before to the Clydes Xmas party. Logan presented me with all sorts of shots, many of them with the word "bomb" at the end of their names, and needless to say, I was feeling sick the next day. Fortunately my family was compassionate enough to let me rest for awhile, and I felt pretty good before the party. Ali, Tara and I had baked heaps of stuff for Christmas!

It was lovely seeing the usual suspects, as well as Moe & Ryan, Caroline, Doro, Brian and Cat, who is also going to be teaching next year. We had a great talk. One of the best parts of my trip was another surprise visitor...Matt! I can't even explain how happy I was to see him. He wasn't going to visit originally, and when I heard that I was in tears. But Bria has a special Christmas present for him: a weekend in Montreal. The best part was that Matt's visit was kept secret from my Dad. It was so nice to see the look on his face when Matt came in the house, those two get along so well. The tree looked marvelous. Everyone was in good spirits. It was a wonderful night.

Time to Relax

I thought that I felt fine the day after I got into Montreal. I slept, woke up fairly early in the morning, and wanted to do something. Something not too exhausting, but fun...hmmmm...what about shopping! Haha. Went with Mom and Tara to the shops near the Colosseum and hardly got past the Aldo shop, where I bought two pairs of boots, a pair of conservative heels for work and a pair of silver flats. Went out to get Dave's Christmas present.

The jetlag was in full force. I recovered by watching Desperate Housewives.

We also got to go to Costco, woot woot! I don't know why, but I love shopping at Costco, it's almost like a family tradition.

Went to Baton Rouge with Dad, Mom and Logan joined us later. Mmmm, delicious ribs!

Arrival in Montreal

With the time I had off, it was easy to get all packed up early.  Jack drove me to the airport, and Dave came to say goodbye, or really,see you soon. I got to Perth airport early, and there isn't much to do there, so I was pretty relieved when it was time to board the plane.  The trip was long of course, and was smooth and mostly uneventful, which is good. The only problem I had was that there seemed to be screaming babies close to me all the time.  I got no sleep, but was so thankful for the headphones with volume control!  Seriously though, it's not the fault of the little kids, but the parents on this plane would simply ignore their kids and allow them to disrupt everyone. The kids in the seat in front of me were yelling, throwing thingsand climbing over the seats. Hm.

I arrived in Montreal, and it was dark already and so cold! It was quite a shock, considering I hadn't experienced a Canadian winter since 2005.  Mom, Dad and Logan arrived to pick me up (and bring me a winter jacket too!)  The snow was coming down in barrels, so much that it took a half an hour to get home, when it usually takes 10 minutes tops.

We got back to Bowling Green and it was pretty amazing to see the house - I hadn't seen it properly finished and set up, and it's beautiful. I especially love the kitchen! My room was lovely, big, with a soft, comfy bed and a wardrobe...with clothes and shoes in it!  Mom had got me stuff, at the bazaar and along the way during the year. Yay! What a great surprise.  I tried on a bunch of stuff, and then Tara got back from work.  We all got Harveys and rented "Step Brothers"...but I couldn't stay up, I fell asleep in the first 10 minutes. 

Looking very amused by getting all bundled up for the cold weather...

Before the trip

As exhausted as I was, it was a little sad to leave my final prac.  The girls in the office were great, and I'll miss them lots!  Rebecca is off to Doha in the Middle East to be an English teacher over there, I hope she has an amazing experience.  I finished my prac with the grade of "outstanding".  I guess I was pretty proud about that.  On the last day we all went for a drink at the Queens.  Afterwards, Dave and I went out for Indian, then went to Brad's place to watch western movies, getting inspired for Mrs. Henry's first music video.

The days before the Montreal trip were good.  I relaxed, sorted some things out and spent time with Dave.  The members of Mrs. Henry shot their first music video for "Handgun" out in the Hills, it was a sort of tribute to Westerns like The Good, the Bad & the Ugly.  Despite some obstacles such as starting late and a flat tire, it was a beautiful day, full of fun, and something different to do.  

A few days to go, and I'll be surrounded by snow...

The Final Countdown

I hope that from reading the title of this post you are envisioning a certain Arrested Development magician doing his tricks – no, illusions, perhaps on a boat. If you weren’t picturing it before, you are now.

Okay. That’s out of my system.

As of today there remains TWO WEEKS before I leave for Montreal. There are THREE DAYS left before I am a qualified English teacher. It’s crazy.

I had my final evaluation by my university coordinator today. It went really well I think – even though I’ve taught tons of lessons I always get nervous when it’s time to be seen by the coordinator. She gave me a couple of tips, but told me she was really happy with what she saw, and that I was “Highly Competent” to "Outstanding"! After today I have only two more classes left to teach this week. I suppose this week at school I’ll get my papers organised, make photocopies and observe some classes. Wednesday night there is a year 11 river cruise I might go to. Thursday night Dave is playing a solo gig in West Leederville, it should be a good night. Sometime this weekend, either Friday or Saturday, the girls from the English department, myself and the other prac student, Nicola, are going out for some drinks, yay!

I have next week off. My plan is to keep on top of all the cleaning, shopping and cooking, since Dave will be at work full time. Other than that, I’m looking forward to a week of reading, playing piano, doing a little Christmas shopping and taking in a bit of season three of Desperate Housewives!

Weekend in November

It has been a great weekend.

To officially celebrate our visa coming through, Dave and I went to Cantina for dinner on Friday night. Cantina is a small cafe restaurant with a limited menu, mostly home made, that they change pretty regularly. I had a gnocci that was the best I have ever tasted.

After dinner we both felt like dome DVDs at home - and not any serious, 'film festival' type DVDs. We wanted something silly. My half kidding attempts to rent Mama Mia! or Made of Honour were not successful, but we agreed on Y.P.F. and both pretended we didn't want to watch You Don't Mess With the Zohan but rented it as well. Y.P.F. (Young People Fucking) was quite entertaining. It was silly, with lots of nudity. Perfect, haha! Zohan was perhaps the dumbest movie I have ever seen (and I have seen a lot of stupid movies: Elephant? Good Burger? Destricted? May? Date Movie? Okay, okay. It wasn't as bad as Date Movie.) Some of it was fun, but the accents drove me up the wall, the jokes were either toilet humour or pointless, and the casting, particularly of the "Arab" girl was awful. Oh well. It actually made me want to watch some of Sandler's older, more fun movies like Billy Madison or The Wedding Singer. We had a fun DVD night. And Dave has not seen Billy Madison. I think he's in trouble.

Saturday night was heaps of fun. And there will be more to come soon.

The Girl With the Most Cake

That's me.

So many good things have been happening, and I feel like I might be the luckiest girl in the world.

After a long wait, Dave and I were approved for our de facto visa today - I have Australian residency rights!

More big news - Last Thursday I had my first job interview, to teach English next year at La Salle Catholic College, a private school near the Swan Valley...I was told would know by Monday or Tuesday of the next week. The day after, on Friday night I got a call - and was offered the job! So I have a real teaching job (at a private school as well!) for next year!

And these things aren't even the things I am most happy about. Every day I think about how lucky I am to have a partner like Dave. I just think it's so great that we love each other so much, and that we truly bring out the best in one another.

I feel so fortunate to have family members who are close to me and so, so supportive. I just can't wait to see them, and the friends I miss so much. It's only about a month away now!

I really think I must be one of the luckiest girls in the world.

October - Second Half (and maybe just a little bit into November).

October 13 (the day after Spring in the Valley - EEK!) marked the first day of my final teaching practicum. I was posted at Mercy College, a Coed Catholic school (not a state school, but not exactly private) in Mirrabooka. I'm sure I wasn't alone going into the final prac feeling pretty nervous; I thought about others in the dip ed program and wondered how they were doing on their first day. I had already met my mentor teacher, Rebecca, who is around my age and really great, so at least I knew that part was good.

But what about the other teachers? What about the students? I only have my own short pracs at Greenwood Sr. High and my experiences as a high school student at BHS and FACE to draw on. My nervousness faded quickly with every teacher I met, and every class I went to. The English department is full of great people, and three female English teachers about my age, Rebecca, Natalie and Ashton. The other prac student, Nicola, is really sweet (she offers to drive me to the bus stop almost every day!)

I have two year 10 classes and one year 11 class. It's been really great and Rebecca always gives me thoughtful, concise and useful feedback. Every day I feel more confident as an English teacher (and with cracking down on those misbehaving students!), and the time is absolutely FLYING. A I write this, I have less than three weeks to go. I think I'm really going to miss the girls in the English room, and the kids (I would start writing about them, but there are just so many I could talk about!)

I have been pretty exhausted a lot of the time, especially since I was also working part time at Caffissimo on top of teaching full time. It was fine, I was working Friday and Saturday nights. Those shifts helped me save money too, since I couldn't have a proper life, haha. But then Barry, my boss changed my hours to 6:30 AM on Sundays without notice. I found it very difficult, and since I was waking up quite early every Monday-Friday plus doing lesson plans and marking, I was burning out. The second week I did it I felt like I was going to vomit I was so tired. So I quit the cafe job.

Life hasn't been all business, there has been lots of fun to be had. Pat was in town for a little while, and we had a great time going for drinks, dinner, going for walks and celebrating Halloween. We went to the opening of the upstairs of the Flying Scotsman, and Dave had a deejay shift there. It was awesome, there's a great terrace overlooking Mount Lawley, our wonderful neighborhood. There were free drinks for people at Dave's work, RTR, and their significant others. Which is great, because "free" is pretty much the price I can afford right now!!! Pat and I went out for a couple of drinks at the Brisbane on a hot Saturday, and we all went to the Sparrow for dinner. The Pangbourne crew hosted the Halloween party, and that was a blast, as always - Dave went as Dexter and won best male

costume! I was....a bunny! (surprise!). As always, there were some great costumes. November - another month has started to fly by, and I'm still kind of in
a state of bewilderment that I only have a few weeks of prac left and then I'm an English teacher! I'm going to sign off now - play a bit of piano and resist the temptation of watching a "Desperate Housewives" episode.



Kerry - a very cute police officer. And me - a bunny!









Dexter claims another victim!

October half

October. It was a lovely month. The month began unfortunately with assignments and exams. But, from an optimistic perspective, the beginning of October marked the END of assignments and exams. It was a really good feeling, walking out of the English Teaching Exam, the last exam in the Dip Ed course.

October is the month of my birthday. Although I don’t necessarily enjoy celebrating the fact that I’m getting older, I feel a lot better about it all this year because I’ve made some positive changes and I feel like I’m on track. A birthday is a wonderful excuse to see friends, especially when it’s been such a busy time. For my birthday Dave and I had a party at the house. The idea was a cocktail party, and if everyone brought a bottle we would end up with a pretty well-stocked bar! It turned out really well, and I think everyone had a good night. Dave really spoiled me on my birthday. He stocked the party, and when I got out of the shower and was in my towel, he said he wanted to give me a birthday present. It was a beautiful black dress, and it fit me perfectly. I felt so spoiled and ‘taken care of’, it was really nice.



The next weekend was Spring in the Valley! For anyone who doesn’t know what that is, it’s a special weekend at the Swan Valley wineries. Buses full of people get all dressed up and go out for a day-long wine tour hosted by the Swan Valley wineries and breweries. Last year I can safely say that it was one of the best days I’ve ever had! This year our bus had a theme – TOGAS! On the morning we got toga’d up, Greek god and goddess style and jumped on the bus. It was such a fun theme, and a lot of people really went all out. It was a great day, and near the end the weather became sunny and warm. We visited some great wineries and the German brewery. The only negative I could possibly bring up was that the event has become incredibly crowded, and, especially at the brewery, there was not enough organization put in. For example, I had to wait 45 minutes to use the toilet. But all in all, a fantastic day filled with friends, wine, sun, music and dancing.

.
Kat and I enjoying the day and the vino.

American Psycho

I've decided to periodically add book reviews to this blog. If anyone is reading this, it will be something different and I really enjoy doing it.

So here we go; my first review will be of American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.

Ellis paints a portrait of a man called Patrick Bateman, who lives in the materialistic New York City in the 80s.

In his third novel, Ellis creates a world where everyone is exceedingly narcissistic and self absorbed; characters in the novel don't hear or see each other. They are however concerned with where they are seated at a restaurant, and with all the designer labels they are wearing. Friendship is reduced to comparing designer clothes, business cards and contemplating the differences between different brands of bottled water together. Seduction and romance are nonexistant, and as for sex, in the novel Patrick has sex with many women, and each scene is as unmemorable as the last, often resulting in boredom on the part of the participants.

In this materialistic sphere everyone is equally rich, equally in designer fashion and equally superficial, making them interchangeable (Patrick and others in his circle of "friends" are often mistaken for one another), and this makes it uncertain as to whether Patrick actually committed his gory crimes only in his imagination. But does it even matter? Even the heinous crimes he theoretically commits result in nothing; there is no recognition, no consequence, no missing of any of his `victims'.

Ellis flawlessly satirizes modern consumerism, exposing its redundancy through his unique prose; gaining personal wealth, a perfect body, designer clothes, designer girls, no longer makes a person stand out. In Bateman, he creates a character that is so caught up in his materialisic world that he is not free to have whatever he wants and be happy; on the contrary, he is trapped in a rigid, monotonous existance, and he loses his identity, and control over himself.

Ellis' novel embodies the makings of a true contemporary tragedy. Patrick Bateman is a man with everything, and nothing. Ellis uses this vapid character to portray the growing lack of emotion and rise in a purely consumer society. Bateman is perhaps one of the most crucial characters in 20th century literature, and Ellis is definitely one of the most important authors.

Yes, I warn you that the violence is graphic and horrifying. But don't get stuck inside that. Look further. Don't miss this book!!!!

Mrs. Henry rock the Next Big Thing

Local Perth band Mrs. Henry got into Western Australia's well known band competition, the Next Big Thing. The four piece band, consisting of David Lee Owen (guitar & vocals), Jack Midalia (guitar), JP Papineau (drums) and Kok-Wah Seet (bass) got through their heat and last Saturday played in the Semi-Final.

The competition was tough; among the other artists were a hip hop/funk band, a 70s-inspired rock and roll band, a bluegrass duo...

Each band got only 20 minutes to play, and the first act had to go on at 7:30 or so, for a total of seven acts. The order was decided with a random draw. Mrs. Henry did well in the draw and got the 9:50 slot. I was pretty nervous for them as the time before they went on passed and as they got onstage, but all traces of worry vanished when they began to play. I say with confidence that this was the best show the band has ever put on.

They started out with Kissing Girls, a song with clever lyrics and a slow, unsettling sound that unfolded into an explosion of rock music. Their second song, Trombone Sally was pure pop rocks, catchy melodies and energy that just has to be danced to and sung along with. The vibe changed a bit with the band's next song, Choke On Your Words, a heavier, angrier song with hushed tones contrasting with thunderous, guitar-heavy choruses that bring back memories of the best music from the 90s yet somehow without sounding too derivative. Next, the band played Terminal Party, the title track of their recently released EP. Terminal Party is truly the band's magnum opus. It is an epic, extremely compelling song with amazing changes that give the listener chills. It is a song that takes risks and really succeeds; The melodies and structure are just brilliant, and the lyrics are haunting and provoking. After the intensity of Choke on Your Words and Terminal Party, Mrs. Henry wisely ended their set with a new, untitled (referred to as SY Song thus far) track, a raucous, thrashing punk rock song that ended with a rockin jam and a bang. Great fun.

As it turned out, they didn't get through to the Final (the hip hop band ended up coming in first...), but they were very, very close. There were a lot of people there who thought they should have won. The point is, it would have been great to win, but everyone had a great night, and they played their hearts out. And hey, it's cool to be the band that is sort of the underdog, the band that everyone thought should have come first. Everyone was happy. And there was a girl who asked to have her picture taken with Dave.

On a side note, a bunch of us who went to the show were having a wonderful time drawing mustaches on the insides of our index fingers, courtesy of Gaby and taking pictures of it. Great times.


Mrs Henry got absolutely sparkling reviews in Xpress and Drum Media.

From Xpress:
Mrs. Henry, wildcard potentials from Semifinal 2, are pretty damn handy at upgrading their chosen genre of music, which happens to be the oft-left-unchanged realm of indie-rock. Not a band to play by the rules, Mrs. Henry put more power and balls into the indie mix than anyone has dared since the Pixies, but also make sure there's enough pop in the rock mix to see them sure-fire radio fodder. Able to jump from delicate lows to soaring highs within the same song, Mrs. Henry are all about versatility in a world of music that has long given up rising to such a challenge.

Thr review from Drum Media was particularly impressive. Each band in the competition got a little something said about them, and many reviews were pretty damn unflattering. "woefully unimaginative", "Audioslave with added vocal echo" and "perverse embarrassment" are some examples of descriptions from some reviews.

Bands got good things said about them, but Mrs. Henry was actually the ONLY band that got a purely good review! Here it is:
Mrs Henry plays and incredible and enigmatic set. Lead singer/guitarist Dave Henry stalks the stage like Groucho Marx, his body reeling in short, sharp fits. His entire being yelps through his guitar...through his throat. Songs hurl from riff to riff like magic and I am suddenly excited about indie rock all over again.

Yay!

If you want to hear Mrs. Henry you should check out their Myspace.

www.myspace.com/mrshenrytheband
The have an EP out as well.

Three Years

Dave and I celebrated our 3-year anniversary together! We went away for the weekend and it was lovely.

The Friday we left was my last day of my 2nd Prac. It was so great to have the weekend away to look forward to. Dave and I spent the first night in Bunbury, we got pizza, drank Absolut Raspberry and watched "the Notorious Bettie Page".

Saturday it was time to get a move on down South! We drove into Dunsborough to have lunch, but ended up deciding to eat at a winery instead. We went to Driftwood Estates, a really nice, fancy winery for lunch. Dave had linguine with seafood (we don't really ever cook seafood since I don't eat it) and I had a steak with mustard sauce, gravy and sweet potato, mmmmm.

We went to the shops to get some picnic foods, went to the Moss Brothers winery for some wine, and in Margaret River, visited the cheese factory and the chocolate factory for yummies, and then it was off to the Yallingup Luxury Retreat!

The place was beautiful with a king size bed full of soft blankets, pillows and cushions that was so easy to just sink into. The huge bathroom had two sinks, a shower with two showerheads and a massive jacuzzi spa! Ooohhh, and there were fluffy robes to lounge around in. It was great! We had a nice picnic on the bed, drank red wine from the winery and watched some movies, spent time together.

The next day we went to see the ocean. It was crashing with some impressive waves and it was a gorgeous sunny day, warm for the time of year.

Highlights

So here we are, I missed so much time writing in here that I'm afraid I'll have to Tell everyone what's been going on in brief snippets. They won't even necessarily be in order - I'll just write as I remember.

A few weeks ago Big Dave had his 30th birthday and to celebrate, he threw a big party; the theme was "A Night at the Playboy Mansion" It was an amazing party - the girls were in cocktail dresses or Playboy Bunny outfits, the guys in 70s style suits, pyjamas or robes. Hors d'Oeuvres and cocktails were being passed around. It was a great night with great people.

Dave's band, Mrs Henry had their EP launch over Easter Weekend at the Velvet Lounge, and it was a real success. They recently got into the Next Big Thing band competition, and also made it through the first heat! They are playing this saturday to determine who goes into the finals.

Navin is coming back on Sunday from a big trip around India and Europe. Larni is travelling in India. Busta went to visit Liz and Rowan in the UK and travelled.

Our friends Taryn and Eddie had a lovely party to celebrate the first birthday of their daughter Raajni.

We had our housewarming party on Walcott street, it was great fun. Here's a pic of a few of the girls (side note: we all decided independently to cut our fringes, it was pretty funny):

I'm booked to go on a visit to Montreal, I arrive on December 15. Dave's going to be there too, For Christmas, he's also going to the UK to see his sister, some friends and go to his cousin's wedding (I was invited too, but I can't go. booooooo.) I'm really hoping to see Matt, Brian and my cousins from Western Canada, I miss them so much.

Dave and I bought a digital piano, and I've been loving it. I've found a lot of websites for sheet music, and I'm re-learning old tunes as well as learning new ones. Dave has also been learning to play, it's great!

On downtime, Dave and I have been into the Sopranos, and now, Six Feet Under. Yay, stories! Haha.

The last party hosted by the girls on Bagot Road was the "Bitches, Bastards and Badasses" party. Dave and I went as Gordon Ramsay and Courtney Love. I loved Gaby's Robin Hood costume the best I think. Lou and Larni went as the wicked stepsisters, Kat was a ninja and Mel was Uma in Pulp Fiction. Their new place, a house of 4 girls: Kat, Gaby, Lou and Sian held a "Dessert only" dinner party. Delicious!

Last week Dave and I went out to the Sparrow with Nat and her Mom, who is visiting her in Australia, it was really good to see them.

The Winter Music Festival came and went, this year it was horror themed. That was pretty cool.

Last weekend was Dave Cutbush's birthday at Shape, and it was a good night, but I ended up drinking like a bottle and a half of champagne, so the next day wasn't so great. And I punched Jack. Never again! It was silly of me.

That's all I've got for now. Lots of great days and nights, and more to come.

Months Later

For the past...what...4 months I have been telling myself to update and add more to this blog.  Well, today I was watching an episode of "Desperate Housewives" (which by the way is awesome, why did I never watch it before??) and I thought that at this point I have no excuse! 

I'm on school holidays for a bit, it's been great. Last I wrote, my Mom had just left Australia - I'm hoping to fill in some of the blanks later, but for now, I'll do a quick rundown, with the best intentions of keeping this blog up better.

My job at Dymocks turned out to be not so good. My boss has his two daughters, age 19 and I think 22 working there, and he gave them both manager positions. Problem is, they are both spoiled and horrible, and the younger one especially is unqualified.  These girls were always bossing everyone around, and talking to us like 4-year-old children, and we couldn't do anything about it, because they were the boss's daughters, and if one of them had a problem with you, it would be hell to be at work.  They were also known for being catty and perpetrating gossip at work.  It turned out that for some reason the younger one took a dislike to me. I would grit my teeth and bear it when she made comments about my work, personality, even my appearance, particularly my hair and weight. She would give me irrelevant jobs, like going upstairs to do everyones' dishes. At this point, I started looking around for something else, but not seriously, and I guess while I was at it, I stopped humoring the daughter so much. Several staff members came to me to tell me that this daughter didn't like me and that she was spreading gossip about me in the workplace. I just kept out of it. But then when the next month's roster was posted, I wasn't on it.  I knew what happened. The same thing had happened to another work colleague of mine who this girl didn't care for.  When I went to talk to the boss, I was floored by how rude and inhumane he was.  He told me that one of his his "trusted managers" had "reported" that I wasn't doing my job properly. That was preposterous; everyone there knows that I go above and beyond what is required over there.  When I told the boss this, he just smirked and told me that since I went back to school and went from full-time to casual, I no longer had rights in the workplace. There are a lot of other things he said to me, but I won't go through it all here, it was all very awful, mean and unprofessional.  I started to tear up in his office and all he said when he saw was "Are we done here?" Anyway. I'll be happy if I never see him or his daughters again!

I am about half done the Graduate Diploma of Education (high school teaching) and a lot of it has been pretty intense. I was terrified going into my first Prac for instance - I definitely didn't feel prepared to teach a high school class, and the first time I did it, my hands were shaking as I took the roll. It all worked out though, and I ended up really enjoying it. My mentor teacher, Rick London, was really cool, and we got along very well and had some great chats. He's an amazing person, and weirdly, he looks quite a bit like Bret Easton Ellis.

It seemed like moments after Prac that it was time for presentations, microteaching and written assignments, followed by exam week, followed immediately by Prac #2! Luckily, 2nd Prac was at the same school as 1st Prac, and I did well, and had a good time with Rick and the rest of the English department. I think I learned more in the three weeks of prac than in the whole school semester. It was really an eye opener to see what worked, what didn't, and to really get in there. I fell on my face a couple of times for sure, but that's how you learn.  I got to know the kids a lot better, and taught some year 12 classes. I was sad to leave some of the kids, and they told me that they really liked having me as their teacher. Really good experience. 

Mom's in Oz!

Pretty amazing - my Mom had a visit in Australia! She spent 20 great days here, it was heaps of fun and great to see her.

She arrived On the 8th of Febuary, 11:45 PM. It was actually quite a bit after that because of customs, but she got here safe and sound, which was great. We went back to ours, and Mom gave us some great things from Canada; some David maple cookies, some awful tostitos nacho cheese that I really love, some lovely fragrace, shaving stuff for Dave, a couple of cute things for me, and some maple leaves (that's where the long customs procedures came in).

Mom was up super early her first day, watching the birds. Dave and I were house hunting, and a great opportunity came up, so we brought Mom to see the house too, along with Cottesloe Beach. The house looked fantastic, and the situation looked good. We went back home for lunch. Unfortunately, Mom got a migraine, and she went back to bed. Dave and I took a nap too, and then Dave took off to the Becks Music Box for a concert he had tickets to. When Mom woke up she felt better, so we had a Cosmopolitan and walked around Mt Lawley before going out to dinner at 2 Fat Indians, which was really good, and we had a great chat. Jetlag was setting in again, so mom headed back to bed, and I joined Dave and the gang at the Music Box; it was the first time I'd seen it, and it looked amazing. We had a good time, going to the Moon after the Music Box and then walking home.

Dave, Mom and I had lunch at the Flying Scotsman on Sunday, it was a beautiful day, and after lunch we walked into Perth City and showed Mom around.

The next week I had work during most of the days, but we still had some great times. Monday night a bunch of us went to our fave restaurant, the Sparrow. Yay cheap Indonesian food! On Tuesday Mom and I went out for dinner at Koinonia and had some noodles, some of the best spring rolls ever and a bottle of wine, went home and watched a silly movie together. Wednesday night Mrs Henry was scheduled gor a gig at the Rosemount. When band members cancelled, Dave decided to do the gig anyway, but solo. I came home from work, made dinner and after Dave left for the Rosemount for sound check Mom and I sat on our deck, had some wine and chatted. Then we took a taxi to the gig, saw I Love Painting Houses, who were great and then Dave, who was also amazing! Thursday - no work, yay! Mom and I went out to Caversham Wildlife Park, and even though I had been there before I was still really excited! I was so happy to see Mom getting to see all the Aussie birds and animals, and it looked like an absolutely perfect day for the park - a beautiful day, but just slightly overcast, so all the great animals came out! I even got to see a lot of the ones that were hiding the last time I came. Mom got to feed tons of kangaroos. My favourite is still the Emu I think. And I know it's silly, but I just love seeing the bunnies. Anyway, it was a perfect day. Tuesday night was Valentines Day. Dave took me to see A Midsummer Nights Dream at His Majesty's Theatre. It was a really interesting and visually stunning performance, Shakespeare with an Eastern twist. The play however was in many different Indian languages as well as English, so it didn't completely work. But it was an experience!

Friday was the start of our holiday down south. First Dave's dad was driving Dave, Mom and I down to Bunbury. Mom met Maureen, Dave's Mom, and we had Chinese food. The next day we took a stroll through Bunbury and in the evening we went to a special exhibition at the Bunbury Art Museum, and Bob Evans played a spot. We watched him while eating big, sloppy burgers from the stand in the street.

Sunday we were off to Margaret River! It was an awesome week, and I'm not going to detail all of it, but I'll give you the gist. The place we stayed at was called Al's Place. It's a cottage between Margaret River town and the beach, it's kind of in the bush. We were surrounded by lovely field and forest, and we got a great surprise the first morning - kangaroos, just hanging out outside the cottage!!! We saw them every morning, as well as a lot of beautiful birds; parrots, honey eaters, Fairy Wrens...and some rabbits a couple of nights. The week was a little weird in the weather sense. Prior to our arrival, the weather was in the late 30s, even cracking 40 degree heat. We thought we had a beach holiday lined up. But when we were on our vacation the temperature dropped to below 20 and rained. We got poured on with chilly rain when we were doing a hike and in the cottage we had a fire at night, which was cozy. We went to some wineries, breweries, cheese and chocolate factories and checked out other towns; on the way down we went to Busselton and walked the Busselton Jetty, which is one of the longest in the world,2nd only to one in the UK, it's about 2km long. Then we went on an underwater tour of the Jetty and saw some cool fish. From Margaret River we saw Augusta, and went to Jim's a restaurant where you can cook your own meat the way you like it. We did manage to get a bit of beach time, and we saw some beautiful forests. We had BBQs at Al's Place and we watched some movies. On our last night we went out for dinner at Goodfellas, an Italian Restaurant with a gangster theme.

Before we knew it we were back home. Sunday Mom, Dave and I went to Fremantle for the day. It was a beautiful sunny day. We had fish n chips, saw the markets and the town and did a little shopping. Mom got a didgeridoo and we went to the Little Creatures lounge for a drink, where we ran into Navin, which was really cool. We drove to Vic Park for dinner, and we couldn't get into the Prophet to we went to an Indian restaurant which was nice. Things started to wind down; I'll write about this later, but we were moving house. Monday we had to do a lot of that. Tuesday night we went to see Miss Saigon, and it was wonderful! I was happy because Dave really enjoyed it. Wednesday night Mom had to leave. I started school, we were starting to move. Mom and I went into town and when Dave got home for work we went out to the Prophet, where we had made a reservation, and from there, it was straight to the airport. I was sad to see Mom go, but even happier that she was here visiting us here.

The week so far

Good 4 day week. Work was okay, it was the same as always with not much to report. Thursday night Dave and I went to the Luna outdoor cinema to see a screening of the Joy Division documentary, which was great to see. We walked home from Leederville and it was a beautiful night.

When I got home from work last night I was a little down about everything. I had gone to the doctor and since I am not eligible for medicare yet, it cost me a lot of money and I didn't get what I wanted out of the appointment. I started to think about that, and moving house soon, and our visa, and work and possible school and just became very stressed and teary. Dave as always was amazing and supportive and made me feel so much better.

I got some news a few minutes after when I was checking my email...ECU (Edith Cowen University) wrote me to tell me that I have been accepted into their Graduate Diploma of Education program!!!!! Provided the visa gets sorted out, I start at the end of Feb/beginning of March and finish in December. It's an intensive program, and at the end I am qualified to teach high school!!!!!!!!! It's all just so exciting, and I can't wait to embark on a challenge and have a change. It's something that I'm actually pretty scared to do, but I really want to just dive into it. It's time to take that step, to grow up and do something that fulfills me.

Dave, Jack and I had champagne to celebrate; Jack just started working at RTR as well, so that was another celebration! Larni came over and we had a great time sitting on the deck, hearing the sounds from the Police concert, and then watching Beavis and Butthead episodes until bedtime.

The weekend is still going - tomorrow is Big Day Out! Should be a great day. I'm off!

Aussie Day Long Weekend

It's Friday afternoon, and the clock hits 5:30. Yayyyy! It's the weekend! And not just any weekend either...it's...a....LONG WEEKEND!

When I got home, the house was empty - no Dave or Jack! But sson enough they arrived with snacks for the Aussie Day party the next day and with Hungry Jacks for dinner. Chomp. After dinner we got into Jack's car and headed out to the Ace Cinemas in Subi to meet Lou, Larni, and Kok. It was Juno night! I think Juno was a bit hit with everyone who went; it was funny, the cast was great, and it had a heart. It was fully cute without being nauseating and the soundtrack was cool. Everyone was in good spirits after the movie so we all went to Bagot to hang out, and to watch (to the boys' dismay) Sex & the City episodes. Outside, you could hear the Bon Jovi concert going on, it was great. When we ot home we already felt like we had a great night, and the weekend had just begun.

Saturday was Australia Day, and we, on Mary Street were the party hosts. he party kicked off in the afternoon and continued on until good and late at night. The Bagot girls made some fabulous goon punch. Our place is a great on to have a party - great big open plan lounge and kitchen, and a huge deck with a BBQ. That night, we had an amazing view of the Aussie day fireworks. It was my second Australia Day and they keep on getting better!

I woke up without a hangover on Sunday, which was great. Dave and I went out for breakfast at the Beaufort Street Merchants and I had the best vegetarian panini ever! After that, Renee called and invited us to go to the beach with her and Owen. Dave had some pretty bad allergies, which was really too bad, but he still decided to beach it, so we went. It was a beautiful day, a perfect beach day, over 30 and sunny. We chatted and soaked up the sun (with proper sunscreen of course), got ice cream and the boys went for a swim (Renee and I were a bit put off by the water temperature and liked just enjoying the sun). Later on Renee and Owen came back to ours and we had a big BBQ dinner of steak, salad, grilled eggplant, garlic bread and potato bake, mmmmm! Watched the tennis and then Superbad.

Monday was another beautiful day. Dave and I hung out in the morning and I was glad for him because his allergies were gone. The boys had a band practice in the afternoon and I went to the park and read my book. I saw some lovely rainbow birds on the way and watched them for awhile. Time flew fast, and soon it was time to make supper and wind up the weekend, but I think long weekends are where it's at. I felt relaxed, recharged and prepared more or less for the work week.

GinGin Weekend

It was a pretty tough week last week, so the weekend was very welcome.  I think I'm rapidly approaching saturation with my place of work. It's not a bad place to work or anything; I mean, I think of the bakery job I had last year and Dymocks is excellent in comparison.  I just think I've done my dash with retail jobs, and feeling like I've grown out of it all. There's no future in the job I'm in, and right now its only purpose is the bi-weekly deposit that appears in my bank account.  It's gotten to the point where I can hardly contain my aggravation.  I think it's because there is virtually no challenge in my job, and every day is essentially the same; I feel like I would be using valuable days better by writing, reading or even cleaning the house and cooking dinners. But the money has to come in somehow. Anyway, a change is definitely on the horizon.

Friday evening I got home and the Daves from RTR were over having some beers and the boys were watching the cricket. Larni came over and we had a couple of beers, and when the RTR boys went home Dave, Larni, Jack and I ordered pizza, listened to some tunes and headed to Amplifier. We saw the Tigers who were really good but left partway through the next band. 

Saturday was quite a lazy day; Dave played music, I did some reading, watched some guilty pleasure tv (yay Gossip Girl!) and went over some writing. Later on, Dave and I went with Hamish and Cat to Renee's 25th birthday party in Gingin, a lovely small town. On the drive over I saw my first real Emu IN THE WILD! It was awesome! Renee's parents' is a beautiful house and yard with cockatoos, geese, goats, horses and ducks. Everyone sat outside on the grass and had some great snacks and drinks. We watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off and played a drinking game where whenever anyone in the movie said "Ferris" or "Bueller" you had to take a drink. It was fun. After we had a vote on what went on next and a few of us voted the Neverending Story but we got outvoted and Willow came on. I had some good chats with Cat, Big Dave and Busta and played the pianos in the house. There were two gorgeous pianos, an upright and a grand, and the upright had the nicest touch I have ever experienced, apart from the piano at my folks' house in Canada. In the morning we went to the little Gingin markets and drove home, where Dave and I had a long nap. We got Noodle Box and watched the Sopranos when we woke up and now here we are!

And now another wonderful week begins.

I want to move to the country on a farm and get a big rabbit hutch full of bunnies.

Well I'm off. I think we're going to have some ice cream now, yum.

Bringing in the New Year

I wanted to start this new blog in the beginning of the new year.  As always, I'm late, but I think it's definitely better to start now than not at all.

2008 was brought in here in Aussie Land at a great party hosted by friends Richard and Ash.  I think it was the best way to bring in 2008, with good friends at a house party. Call me lame, but I detest the idea of going out to a bar on New Years Eve, where it's crazy, crowded and expensive at the bars just because of the date. I mean, $50 to get into Luxe, our local cocktail bar New Years Eve, free any other night. Anyway, I digress. ave and I made Absolut Pear and grapefruit martinis and the whole gang danced brought the year in with Champers and danced the night away.

Dave and I went into the New Year with the same jobs - Dave's a sponsorship manager at RTR FM, I'm at the book shop.  There's a possibility that I'll be going back to school this year - I want to be a high school teacher. It's a bit daunting, but I welcome a challenge at this point.

Unfortunately, the New Year is not without a lot of sadness.  On January 14, around 4AM, Thomas Logan, my lovely Grandpa passed away.  He was such an amazing man, and was loved by a wife of over 50 years and 4 children, my mom Maureen, Kevin, Peter and Ann-Marie.  Kevin suffered with MS, and Papa looked after him in the hospital every day with hope and without fail until the day Kevin died.  I had hoped to have many more conversations with Papa when I next visited Montreal, and it was hard for me; I didn't think that last summer would have been the last time I saw Papa. But through being sad I remember that he lived a good life, and I will always remember and love him.  I will always remember a long time ago, when he used to smoke his pipe and what it smelled like. When I wanted to know something and I always knew I could ask Papa because he knew so much. How he always cleaned his plate immaculately (I never knew quite how he did that). I remember he loved the fajitas Tara and I made. In later years, how he gave me his car, and how protective he was when I met Dave. He always wanted the best for me. There are countless memories of Papa and I could go on and on.  But at the moment I want to keep them for myself, and as long as I have them, he'll never really be gone.