*scratches blog under chin*

Good blog ... whose a good blog den?
Sorry. It's getting late and I'm getting loopy. I'm trying to think if I have anything to report - nothing very exciting, that's for sure.
Jacob's christening was Sunday but I had to stay home as I had a sore throat and achy bones; his surgery is on Friday so I don't want to jeopardise that.
Winter has stretched out on the couch, stolen the remote control and made itself comfortable.
It's cold, in other words.
And I'm worried that I'm getting jaded about movies _ I love movies, I don't want to be jaded _ about anything. Maybe we just need to take a little break from each other. Long-term relationships can get stale from time to time.
I've had the song Helter Skelter in my brain since Saturday _ the U2 version. It's a heckuva thing to have running through your head pretty much all the time.
I haven't walked to work yet because of this stupid virus that keeps lingering. Or I'm just really really really really lazy. Who knows.
I don't really know anything at the moment.

Friday on my mind

Actually, I'm on my way to bed to try and finish my book. It's been a less-eventful week this week (thank goodness) and winter has finally arrived _ frosts, cold rain and all.
What else. I don't have a lot at the moment.
Jacob's christening is on Sunday so I imagine large amounts of tomorrow will be spent searching for a present. And then reading. And not moving a whole heck of a lot.

No drama

At least, that's what I'm trying to aim for. Well, LESS drama. I do have a new computer now, since my other one ate my hard drive. Thankfully, J recovered all my stuff, so all is well in my little corner of the world. Mostly well.
We won't talk about last Wednesday.
Ever.
What else. Oh. Nothing for now. :)

Just tag me, stuff me and put me in the corner

There is nothing worse than losing control at work. At home is fine, where the only ones who see it are J and the cats. But at work????????????????????????
I've taken a stat day today and it's all lovely and peaceful. I read a book (Shopaholic Abroad) and now I'm mooching at the computer and watching TV. It's a good day to have off, it's all windy and cold. And since all I feel like doing is lying about and being a lizard, it's even better.
Of couse, I have to go back to work tomorrow and explain to my boss and then the deputy Ed What Happened.
Ugh. What am I going to say? On top of it, I"m really not proud of myself for bolting on a busy day. Or of blubbering all over G's kitchen table.
Blergh. Blergh. Blergh.

So ... how'm I doing?

Well, I got up pretty much on time yesterday _ and an hour late today. But that's okay. It's only one day. I also didn't have time for cereal, so had one of those breakfast drinks and a banana. On the bright side, it wasn't McDonalds :)
Haven't walked to work yet but am planning to for the rest of the week, which would be three days; so not bad.
Stitching and reading going well, and I've started my 101 top books list (not easy!)
I also realised, I've already done one: the design my own cross stitch, although I pretty much just started stitching it because I can't draw, but it still counts.
I started a plot outline for my screenplay last night, so I'm writing again.
The starting is easy ... the carrying on? Not so easy.
Of course, it doesn't help that I locked myself out of the house tonight and I'm tired.
Luckily, a workmate lives around the corner from me and her husband obligingly broke into my house for me. Yay!
Had lunch out with S and M today. Twas good but I need to start resisting it more than once a week; I had a perfectly good lunch with me and I should have had it; we're having lunch out tomorrow as well because K is working tomorrow, which WAS planned.
Argh.

The 101 list

OR: How I completely lost my mind without even trying.
I've seen this on a few blogs and I do love a challenge. The advantage with it is that you have 1001 days to complete the goals. I have to say, it's taken me a week to come up with 101 things.
But, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, here it is.
1): Lose 30kg - this is The Big One, as it were, which is why it's first.
2): Attend a Dawn Service on Anzac Day
3): Get my drivers licence. Specifically, have my restricted licence by the end of this year.
4): Design a cross stitch chart. Done!
5): Pay off BNZ Mastercard and cut it into tiny plastic pieces.
6): Go to bed by 2am every night.
7): Exercise as many days in a week as possible.
8): Cook dinner as many days as possible; except when I go to the movies after work (which is about once a fortnight).
9): Pay off my high laybys. Paid off one
10): Go to the movies once a fortnight.
11): Have cereal for breakfast on weekdays.
12): Have a baby. DONE
13): Drink more herbal tea.
14): Pay off ANZ overdraft.
15): Get through the rest of the books on the Whitcoulls top 100 that I haven't read yet.
16): Get through my backlog of review books.
17): Start a graduate degree.
18): Save/plan for a trip to the Antarctic.
19): Write a screenplay.
20): Research religions that interest me.
21): Own an original artwork.
22): Finish Circe, Monet Impressions and Romany Caravan (Cross stitch WIPs).
23): Write book reviews as soon as possible after the books are finished. DOING PRETTY WELL SO FAR
24): Take a road trip from Bluff to Cape Reinga.
25): Blog twice a week. SO FAR SO GOOD
26): Go on a retreat.
27): Post comments on at least two blogs a week. ONCE AGAIN, SO FAR SO GOOD
28): Learn to knit.
29): Learn to crochet.
30): Stitch four charity squares in a 12-month period.
31): Donate to a charity once a month.
32): Plan a trip to London at Christmastime.
33): Finish a book every two weeks.
34): Learn beading.
35): Compile a personal recipe book.
36): Get films developed.
37): Watch extended LOTR movies back-to-back.
38): Sort household paperwork.
39): Explore personal faith.
40): Update photograph albums; online included.
41): Write a first draft of a novel.
42): Go to a live concert.
43): Legally change my last name.
44): Go to the museum once a month.
45): Go to Dunedin at least once a year to go to the public art gallery.
46): Learn to bake a loaf of bread from scratch.
47): Make a will
48): Save $3000.
49): Pay $100 on other credit card every month.
50): Take more photographs.
51): Visit fruit and vegetable market at least once a month.
52): Get an annulment.
53): Have a church wedding service.
54): Learn to play the piano again.
55): Keep a food journal and update it daily.
56): Make DVD/Reading/Stitching wishlists. ONGOING
57): Eat two servings of fruit every day.
58): Learn yoga _ either take classes or find a decent DVD.
59): Drink at least a litre of water every day.
60): Read one non-fiction book every two months.
61): Watch one DVD from my own collection once a week.
62): Read the Bible - the whole thing.
63): Make a list of 101 favourite movies. DONE
64): Make a list of 101 favouorite books. DONE
65): Make a list of 25 must-see movies for myself. DONE
66): Learn how to make pasta from scratch.
67): Observe Lent.
68): Buy a comprehensive cookbook and cook something from it once a month (when I get paid). COOKBOOK BOUGHT. GOAL AMENDED.
69): Cook a vegetarian meal once a week.
70): Write a short story and enter it into a competition.
71): Go on a honeymoon.
72): Write every day.
73): Spend more time outside.
74): Grow something in a pot from seed.
75): Send five Christmas cards.
76): Buy a really great pair of jeans.
77): Buy a ''dress'' ring.
78): Dance more.
79): Watch one of my 101 favourite movies once every three months.
80): Read one of my 101 favourite books once every three months.
81): Take a night class in something challenging.
82): Make a list of my own top 10 boys' and girls' names. DONE.
83): Get store card under $500 and keep it there.
84): Go to a stitching show.
85): Go to a play once a year.
DONE. I'M COUNTING THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW.
86): Go to Armageddon.
87): Buy a pair of diamond earrings.
88): Buy a Lonely Planet guide for each of the countries I want to visit.
89): Find a pair of boots that fit.
90): Visit Macetown.
91): Play music more often. DOING - BECAUSE OF IPOD
92): Buy a new CD every two months.
93): Inventory cross stitch stash - fabric, charts, kits, mags, threads, WIPs and UFOs.
94): Drive a sports car.
95): Buy a journal for planning trips. DONE
96): Buy a bathing suit.
97): Get musical soundtracks (on CD) for Phantom, Les Mis, Chess and Cats.
98): Finish organising bookcases. SORT OF DONE
99): Leave savings account alone.
100): Go to Midnight Mass.
101): When 1001 days is up, start new list and carry over anything from this list not done.
I'd divide them into categories but it took me so long to get the list together, I'm not going to.

More weather ... and a finish

A small finish ...
Well, I guess the self-righteous hippy in me has won out for now, but that doesn't mean I need to be happy about all the wind and rain and cold weather crap. Ugh. But normal wintery transmission has resumed. *Sigh*
Short post, because I don't have a lot to say, unusual as that may seem ;)

Finally, not drowning but waving

Boy, this surely is a long, painful process. But I do believe some of myself is coming back to me. I'm certainly acting more like myself, and I feel a little more like myself, so it's all good, right?
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeexcellent!
Now, what's been happening. The training at work is finally done (YAY!). The bad news? We go live with the new software on Monday. Not so much yay. In fact, the direct opposite of yay.
Lemme see ... this is going to be slightly random, because it's been a while and I'm trying to remember as much as I can.
Went to the movies this week and saw M:I:3 and gosh darn, it was fun. Big, dumb, testosteroney fun. It's a really good action film. No smarts at all, but if you want a smart film, you don't go to something like M:I:3. I also saw My Own Private Idaho on DVD; I had never seen it and naively rented the special edition, thinking I'd find insights from Gus Van Sant but nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ... he's not in the special features at all! There's all kinds of other people talking about how great he was to work with and how visionary his film was. Which is true. So where's The Man himself? According to Amazon, there's a Criterion version with commentary. That's the one I need to try and find.
I managed to walk to work three days this week and found I actually slept a little better. Which, for me, is a triumph of fairly epic proportions. I've been sleeping horribly.
Except for last night, when somehow, I ended up at M's house for Shabbat dinner and didn't get home until midnight. It did beat spending the night on the couch eating toast and watching TV, though. I also think I'm coming to some kind of peace about how M and I are friends.
I do all the running and she sits and waits for favours, like royalty. Now that I'm no longer tying myself up in knots about it, I'm fine. Because hanging out with M can be fun sometimes.
And I did have fun last night; good food (really good food), good company ... the cats weren't happy when I got home, but you don't always get what you want.
We also went out yesterday for lunch for Mother's birthday. All of us ''girls'' apart from my sister in law whose in Oz at the moment. Mother enjoyed herself, which was the point of the excercise, so all good.
I got J to help me sort through a bunch of charts last week, for a new start. I didn't need a new start as such, but it felt good _ like a symbol of me coming back to myself, or something. OR, I'm starting to disappear up my own metaphor. Ouch.
Anyway. Things are ... better. And better is good. :)