G is for...

Geocaching (AKA. Hunting for treasure)

Not sure if I've posted about our Treasure hunting adventures in the past... but yesterday we went to the You Yangs for to search for a library related cache! Yeah daggy I know!!!

All you need is a GPS, a keen eye and a love of exploring!!!

S is for...

Sierra!

She’s three weeks old today!

Here’s some thoughts on the past 3 weeks...

I have actually felt a lot more relaxed in the three weeks since she was born than probably the three weeks previous. She’s a very laid back baby... eats, sleeps and shits and thats about it! Oh yeah and she’s also pretty goddamn cute too!!!!

I got myself so stressed about the Caesarean but I’ve been absolutely fine since, I feel so good that I have to remind myself I’m not supposed to be doing certain things or whatever...

The operation itself was one of the strangest experiences of my life, I’ve only had one operation before (and I was knocked out for that one) being fully conscious but not being able to feel anything, and all these people there for little old me! I could see the lady in recovery moving my legs but they didn’t seem attached to my body. One of the other strange parts was that I only saw her for a few minutes, then she was taken away to be checked out and stuff while I was in recovery. So here I am, already having this out of body type experience, and my brain knows I have just had a baby but I can’t seem to comprehend this fact!

Feeding could cause me stress if I let it. I am trying to feed from the boob but don’t seem to be able to satisfy so have to top up with formula when I just can’t handle her hanging off the boob anymore! I have strong feelings about the whole breastfeeding business. I will not deny that breast feeding is most probably best, but it doesn’t work for everyone, I don’t care what the breast Nazi’s say! We have options and no one should ever be made to feel guilty or a lesser parent for utilising any of the options available. There’s talk of how it helps with the bonding process, well how can a stressed out mum and a hungry baby bond more than a contented pair with a bottle in hand? For me, a delicate mix of boob, expressed milk and formula is getting me through, and I figure if I last three months again, then I am doing pretty damn good! Part of me just doesn’t have the patience to sit still for so long with my jugs out!

Now it’s not actually been the newbie that been causing me any stress... its little miss, she regressed to wanting to be like the baby. We’ve had to take evasive action to get the toilet training back on track, and a little strawberry Quik has got us over wanting to have milk in a bottle all the time (lucky she hasn’t figured out you could have pink milk in a bottle too!) I’m doing all those things that the text books and magazines tell me too like making her totally involved with the new baby, she gets her nappies and picks her clothes for the day. She gives her kisses and cuddles and I don’t think it’s a jealousy thing, maybe just a comfort zone thing, or why try hard with all this hard stuff if the baby can just lay there and get the same sort of attention. But we’re getting there, getting a routine of sorts happening. And the electronic baby sitter is getting a workout too!!!

The boy went back to work today and I’ve managed to get through the morning ok!!! Just joking (I have got through the morning ok, Just joking that it needs to be pointed out!!) I’m enjoying some space with no visitors, no boy, two sleeping children and a yummy lunch (out of the freezer!). So I guess things are going along fine... so far!

J is for...

Japan!

The following is a copy of an email I sent on Monday 4th June 2001 near the end of my first trip to Japan.

hi everybody...

moshi moshi konichi-wa from Japan...I'm having a ball, Japan is an onslaught to the senses!

Here is 12 reasons why I love japan;

1/I love vending machines... I love the 20 million different sorts of drinks you can buy from them, and I love that everyone is a surprise because i cant read what they are!!! I love that I can buy film and batteries and Hagan daaz Ice cream from them, and if I drank beer and smoked I would love buying them from vending machines too!

2/I love heated toilet seats... I love them even more when they have a Boedau thing (yeah I know I can't spell, but you know, the wash your bum thing!) the restaurant we went to last night even had a fake flush sound function... don't ask me why I have no idea! some of the toilets have an automatic hand wash tap and basin thing which starts when you flush, then the water goes into the thing and becomes the water for the next flush, very economical. I love that Dave’s toilet comes with instructions including diagrams of how to sit or stand! (he doesn’t have a heated seat though!!!)(p.s. note to the girls... squat toilets are no fun when you have your period, well sorry but it’s true!)

3/I love big Buddha’s... Ive seen the two biggest ones in Japan, and millions of little Buddhas and lots of Buddhist art... and about 20 million shrines and temples and more Buddhas.

4/I love MOS burgers... I don’t care that they are about half the size and twice the price of McDonald's (and twice as greasy!) they taste damn good, were just around the corner from where I stayed in Kyoto, and have no pickle!

5/I love all the other new food Ive tried... yes I have had raw fish,* not so bad. David took me for Kaiten Zushi (revolving sushi) and i had salmon and tuna and that was a week ago and i’m still alive!!! I’ve also had Okonomyaki (As you like pancakes) and i must say that my pancake flipping skills are much better than Dave's. Shabu Shabu (One pot veggies and meat) you cook both of the last two things yourself at the table. Last night I was forced to try octopus... and we had a ‘surprise parfait’ between 5 of us and we could still only get half way through! Lots of different meat on a skewer type things and of course, god old Mos burger!

6/i love pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate called ‘Pocky’ (you can get them from vending machines too!)

7/I love tacky souvenir shopping... I love tacky souvenir shopping anywhere as some of you well know, but it’s even more fun in Japan... Haven't gone overboard but have bought myself a Kimono which I’m sending home to mum, and it’s not a tacky one at all... so someone needs to come up with an excuse for me to wear it when I get back. I could have spent so much money on crazy camera stuff and books and all the usuals... lucky I don’t have the room.

8/I love that I got to feel an earthquake... just a little one!

9/I love that I’ve seen some really cool photography exhibitions... One you would have liked Julie T was called ‘moonlight blue earth’ where all the shots were lit only by moonlight, not your average startrails!

10/I love checking out the toy dept’s** in the department stores... nothing on Myer Melbourne toys! They’ve all been relatively small, a little bit of Lego, lots of collectible Barbies (but not many pink box, note to Jenny-Anne, Black lingerie barbie and the blonde one with the white lingerie were 7000 yen, so about 100-120 dollars) but lots of Hello Kitty as to be expected... not as much pokemon as I thought, thank god!

11/I love walking out of Shinjuku station for my first glimpse of Tokyo which feels like your walking onto another planet!

12/I love that everyone is so nice and polite (except on trains) and patient with me for not speaking any of the language (and every time I attempt it I pronounce it wrong!) the guy next to me on the plane (who i’d hardly even spoken to) gave me one of each Japanese coins with a little chart of each one he had drawn on a napkin, so I gave him a caramello koala! And the lady at the inn I stayed at in Kyoto also gave me a little present but I had left my caramello koala’s at Dave's! (note to mum, send more caramello koalas!!)

Well that's it for this episode of ‘Allison’s observations of the world... I leave for the states on the 6th and start at camp on the 10th. Hope everyone is well and please keep me up to date with all important gossip!!!
Lots of Love,
Alli

*remember this is 8 years ago and sushi wasn’t as common in western countries as it is now.

**I had just finished up a year of working at Myer toys so it was on my mind!

reading over this has been a blast from the past!

I have been back to Japan twice since then. The 3rd time was only for one night but it still counts OK! (I was on my way to the States and the Japan airlines flight co-ordination meant a 20 hour stopover with supplied hotel room, my travel agent knew I had friends there so offered me that one. They were a little surprised when I emailed them and said "what are you doing on the night of such-and-such coz I was just wondering if you wanted to take me out for dinner!")

I cant believe how green I was and it's interesting to see what was important to me then. Also many of my favourite aspects of Japan are not mentioned (maybe I didn't discover them until the second trip) like Harajuku on a Sunday and that huge massive toy store over four levels and Onsen and the food area of the department stores where you can pretty much fill yourself up for lunch on samples (gotta love free samples!) and my favourite shopping experience...

The vast range of condoms available! my favourite being 'No Touch' which have little tabs so you can open the packet and avoid touching both the condom and the penis because obviously when you are having sex you do not actually want to touch the person!!!

Picking up the sticks...

AKA: K is for Knitting!

My latest hobby only started last year when I bought myself a $5 book on knitting from The Warehouse and taught myself to knit. I haven't been doing much of late but picked up the sticks again today... actually it was Vicroads fault for having such a long wait and being right next door to Spotlight! But I had been meaning to get back into it, and of course, have started my most ambitious project to date (in fact all Ive really made so far have been bracelets and a rather wonky bag.)

It's called the Go-everywhere-go-with-everything cardigan which you can see the lovely Debbie Stoller, Editor of BUST magazine wearing on the cover of the bible (AKA: Stitch 'N 'bitch, Pg 96 for the pattern.)



I have heard that knitting can be quite a relaxing pursuit, well we'll see... (as the knitting needles fly across the room!) I'm also not very good at following directions so don't expect too much of me!

P is for...

Pini's

I love these kind of Cute Retro Pini aprons and tend to collect them, never wear them so I then sell them on ebay!

I think they bring out the domestic goddess/50's Housewife in me!

These two are currently listed for sale on ebay if your interested!

B is for...

Bush walking...

I am feeling slightly (understatement!) exhausted right now, and although I do believe it is partly to do with the massive pile of dishes waiting for me to do while the boy sits happily on the couch watching DVD's and cant understand why I am yelling at him to come help me... Well it might also have something to do with the 12 km's walk we did today to Currawong Falls near Airey's Inlet. It's our, not so new, hobby that we are now taking seriously. We were building ourselves up to a planned 3-4 day walk in Wilson's Promontory in May, but unsure of what we will do now after the fires. So most weekends this year Me, the Boy and a 12kg Little Miss in her backpack carrier (on my back while the boy trains with his pack full of all sorts of important hikey things) have been setting off for increasingly longer walks. Mind you, 12 km's is nothing when you consider that in year 12 I did a 9 day walk through the Tasmanian Wilderness, but then again that was 15 years ago!!! Of course I did do the walk today with a massive blow out in the bum of my pants (now the pants are only 17-18 years old... ) which was fine until we got to the spot we were planning to have our lunch at and about 15 middle-aged members of a bush walking club were there, and the rip got even bigger (and louder) when I sat down! We also saw a small Tiger Snake, that was pretty cool. The Boy refuses to acknowledge this is the second time I have saved him from a Snake!! So thats enough of todays adventures... I'm off to bed now!!!

C is for...

Cowgirls!

I have had a fascination with these women all my life. Check me out when I was 5!

The latest issue of the greatest magazine in the world has an article on them, describing them as trail blazers for today's feminism. They were among the first women in the US to own land, and up until recently, cowgirls were one of the few heroines little girls could look up to.

I also think they are pretty Hot!

One of my top 5 all time favourite books is Even cowgirls get the blues by Tom Robbins.

I trekked all over New York City just to have lunch at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

E is for...

Ebay!!!

OK so lets talk about one of my all time favourite Web 2.0 applications... none other than the ultimate shopping experience that is Ebay!

I just listed some items for sale which you can see here.

It's been a while since I've listed anything, lets just say a little intervention had to take place... I did have withdrawals for a while but I think I can handle it this time...

You see...

Ebay is VERY addictive, not just the buying part and the bidding wars, but the selling part too. No sooner have you listed your first item, then your running around the house looking for anything not nailed down just to see what some poor sucker... whoops I mean Valued Customer will pay for it!!

May I recommend two fun Ebay books for when you start to get into it...

I married and Ebay Maniac By Jayne Perry
and
All my life for sale by John Freyer

Both of which are available from Hobsons Bay Libraries!!!

R is for...

Roller Skating!



I had a dream the other night about joining a Roller Derby team, (turned out I was a natural!!!) and it inspired me to get my skates on... Literally. I'm a bit out of practice but I love it! My skates are about one size too small but I don't care!

My love of Roller Skating started when I was about 4 (I think) and my older brother got a pair of those skates that you can adjust and just strap onto your shoes. He was not overly interested in them or no good or whatever, I can't remember. I asked my Mum if I could have a go and she said "No, your too little" or something to that effect. I took them over to my Dad and he adjusted them for me ands the next thing my Mum saw, I was up and skating around!

I don't get a lot of chance for skating these days, and the Boy keeps threatening to throw them out but I wont let him.

Maybe I should tell the story of how I came to have this pair of skates... this will really embarrass my Mum! It involves the Summernats which Clarkie knows all about now! So we're at the car event which was being held at a complex in Canberra which also had a Roller Skating rink. It was during the super cruise and my Dad decided he was going to pull one of his stunts... He wanted to borrow a pair of Roller Skates and be pulled along behind the car by a rope, as if he was water skiing... in his undies... He's a strange man! (And he didn't realise it till we pointed it out to him later that his undies had holes in them!!). But the rink wouldn't let him borrow a pair to take off the premises so he just bought them! And lucky me who had the same size foot as my dad, once he'd had his fun, the skates were mine!

By the way... don't ever mention the words Roller Blading to me... I will not stand for such blasphemy!!

J is for...

Jobs...


Here is a list of Jobs I have held in my time;

Ice cream server

Life model

Simulated patient (For Nursing students)

Sales assistant

Apple Picker

Bridal registry attendant

Photographer

Photographer's assistant

Cleaner

Photography teacher

Kitchen hand (I hated it so much I only lasted two shifts and told a lie as to why I wasn't coming back!)

Office clerk

Office manager

Graphic designer

High and Low ropes instructor

Make up artist

Assistant manager

Cash office manager

Barmaid

Christmas elf

Usher

Cloakroom attendant

Box office attendant

Waiter

Gallery assistant

Pool cleaner

Spa attendant

Biscuit baker

Judge (not in the legal sense, in the competition sense!)

Barrister (Again, not in the legal sense butt he Coffee sense this time!)

Librarian

Branch Team Leader (Yay!)

D is for...

Depression.

Last night I finished reading Madness: a bipolar life by Marya Hornbacher (who is the author of Wasted about her struggle with Anorexia and Bulimia) Yes I do tend to have a fascination with this topic. Some of it is a little Schadenfreude, Reading about people in worse condition than me, but mostly its that I can relate. When I read Elizabeth Wurtzel's Prozac Nation it changed my life, I finally found someone describing the feelings that I had been coping with for years, I finally found a name for what was going on. (I had a similar experience when I read Fiona Horne's Witch, but that's a completely other post!)

I have had several what I call 'Meltdowns' but what I now understand to be depressive episodes. All of which concur with major events in my life that really make it understandable. (i.e. when I first started uni and was in an emotionally abusive relationship, when I was in a really bad living situation, travelling alone in a very strange country, after the death of my friend and grandfather and during a 'break up' with a very close friend.)

The first time it happened I was 15, I had spent three weeks in hospital with a broken pelvis and started a new school while still on crutches. I was so scared and I did not know what was happening to me. Everything was just too overwhelming, I could not stop crying, My mum would force me to school each morning, and I would call her before an hour was up to come and get me. I thought at the time it was really cruel her forcing me to school but I think now it was probably a good strategy. This was 18 years ago, before depression and mental illness where widely discussed. I was angry at my mother for not recognising what was going on, for not taking me to the doctor. But I also think back now and realise she was probably shit scared. She had watched my father go through two nervous breakdowns when he was in his 20's.

I have been a lot better in recent years, I was very concerned about post-natal depression after I had Anouk also after recent events in my life, but I think a hyper-awareness of the warning signs and treatment seeked I have been able to control things. The other thing that has helped recently is the fact that I have this little person that depends upon me, even when I feel like just spending the day in bed, I cant!

It might or might not be a coincidence that this post co-insides with New Years Eve. There is something I find depressing about NYE. I always seem to become very emotional and I could not tell you why. Lets see how tonight goes... Happy New Year!

M is for...

My Mum!

Here are three cool things my mum has done this week (and its only Tuesday morning!)

Found me a song about Roller Derby after reading about it on my blog;



Joined the Webolution by creating her own blog (I might have given a pointer or two!)

Took Anouk home with her so I can have some time out!!!

G is for...

Gardening!

Not something that I have ever really done a lot of before, and certainly never successfully. But something I have always wanted to do, and when we bought our house this year could finally, was have a veggie garden. I am loving it! I am finding it immensely satisfying as I can see the fruits - literally!- of my labour...

Check out these Roma's!

This in the industry is called a Beanstalk!

I am even trying to propagate some of my own Cacti for my front garden!!!

D*A*A*S

I bought the recently released Doug Anthony All Stars DVD for my brother for Christmas, and Ive just been checking it's all working OK. (I also like to do this with books I buy for gifts, just like to make sure there are no pages missing!)


Anyways...

I think I had forgotten how funny they are, some of it has dated but also some of it I didn't get when I was 15 and watching the Big Gig. Bit like watching the Young ones when I was 7, it was all about the visual comedy then, (I didn't get the intellect until much later!!!!)

Its also been bring back a lot of memories about my friend Lee, he was a massive DAAS fan, so much that they played their version of Throw your arms around me at his funeral.

Lee died from Cystic Fibrosis just before his 30th birthday. I was holding his hand when he died, he had been unconscious for over 12 hours, but about a minute before he died he moved his finger along my hand, like he was telling me he was still there.

I told him before he went to sleep the night before, when he knew he was going to die, to make sure he got in touch with me... typical man, he's never called!

Recent events in my life have got me thinking a lot about important people and events in my life, Ive been getting in touch with people I don't want to lose touch with... give me a call Kiersten!!!!

H is for Hormones...

Hormones... Those fabulous unseen but much felt things that make the world go round, and round, and round, and....
Pregnancy hormones are the worst, just ask my partner!
I blame the fact that I am having a boy and have all this testosterone going around in my system. Of course this doesn't make me any better at stereotypically boy activities... my latest hissy fit involved a lawnmower that I couldn't start!
Just about anything can set me off at the moment, random crying at doggies on the telly, sobbing during the Sex and the City movie, and I watched Juno the other day and you should have seen me in the birth scene... not to mention the now infamous plate throwing incident... pretty tame actually when you consider I only threw it in the sink and not at the boy's head!

T is for Travel

I have been to 18 countries (not counting Australia!)

Fiji

UK

France

Ireland

Netherlands

USA

New Zealand

Japan

Mexico

Jamaica

Barbados

Turkey

Russia

Belgium

Germany

Czech Republic

Austria

Italy

Photo's all with courtesy of Flickr and the Webolution learning objective #3!

I had this great idea to put these photo's I found into a map, easy enough to do in the Organisr part of Flickr, but I couldn't upload it onto my blog, which was the whole point of this post!
Flickr seems easy enough to use, but trying to arrange multiple photo's in a blog post is not fun! I kept unwittingly deleting and had to constantly rearrange them, They are still not how I really wanted them but I am about to throw the computer out the window so you will have to put up with it!!!

A is for...

Anouk!

Here are some Anouk's of note;

Dutch rock chick Anouk - check out her song 'Nobody's wife'.

Anouk Aimee - Super sexy French actress.

The daughter character in Chocolat and the follow up Lollypop shoes.

And of course the most fabulously gorgeous Anouk of all!

Born: 27/12/2006

AKA: Wibbler

Favourite Foods: Cheese, yogurt, bickies

Favourite song: Twinkle twinkle little star

Favourite animals: Giraffes, Koalas, Doggies

Newest word: Cuddle

Favourite activities: Picking flowers, reading, slides

Greatest achievements: Learning to walk, putting socks on my myself, being so super cute and wonderful that I convinced Mummy and Daddy that it was a good idea to go back for another!

B is for...

B is for Buses...

For someone who lives in a city known for its trams, buses certainly have played a significant role in my life... of course neither of these stories takes place in Melbourne.

I met one of my best friends, C, while traveling in Europe with another friend, G. Picture this: G and I were travelling on Bus-a-bout, a sort of hop on hop off backpacker network of buses that travel around Europe. We had been staying with a friend of G's in Paris and were scheduled to leave at 8am on whatever morning it was. We slept in, woke up in a tizzy and rushed to where the buses leave from to see them driving off in the distance. We headed over the road (actually road is an understatement, picture one of those huge wide Parisian boulevards with about five lanes of traffic in each direction!) to grab a coffee and collect our thoughts. After a couple of minutes we see two Bus-a-bout buses pull up again. knowing full well they were not coming back for us, because although we had a booking they do not wait for anyone! G ran across the road to find out what was going on. She called out to me from the other side of the road to come over, so me, laden down with two lots of (girls!) bags ran over and jumped on the bus.

Meanwhile; C and her husband (at the time!) where on their first Bus-a-bout leg, having shown their booking slip to the guide of the first bus (about three buses left from the same place at the same time and for some unbeknown reason did not have a sign showing which was going where.) got themselves comfy. As the bus headed down the road and the guide began talking about their destination, (I cant remember where it was but it can not where C was supposed to be going!) she gingerly put her hand up and said, um, I think there has been a mistake. After much convincing, tanty throwing and whatever other threats where involved, the driver, totally against policy (how many times did we have to hear those words!) contacted the other driver and had both buses return to the original leaving spot.

Suffice to say, we got on the bus and everyone HATED C and her hubby for making the bus so late, but G and I LOVED them because we got to get on. We got talking and it turned out we were all from Melbourne, had all been living in Edinburgh, (just down the road from where I was living in fact) and had heaps in common. We kept running into them throughout our travels and at the end exchanged all the usual email addresses etc. I was heading straight back to Aus, and although you say you will, you never keep in touch. 6 months later, I was coming out of the store room of the Bookshop I was working in and ran straight into this guy who looked so familiar but I just couldn't place him. it was N, C's hubby, they were back, living in Melbourne. After a couple more spooky coincidences, C and I decided there had to be some reason we were meant to be friends so we might as well go with it. that was about 6 years ago, and we've gone through so much together, kids, relationships (starting and ending), complete meltdowns, librarianships. She's cooking me dinner tonight!

The other Bus...

I met my partner (here by known as 'the boy') on the school bus. We used to sit together, well actually he always sat next to me. I had such a crush on him, we kissed once but he reckons he doesn't remember. Anyway, we were pretty good friends, and ran into each other from time to time. This was all about 15 years ago now. About four years ago I found out on the small town rumour mill that he was back and where he was living. I knocked on his door, as you do, not having a clue what to expect. I mean it had been at least four or five years since I had seen him, I could have been greeted at the door by his wife and kids, or his boyfriend for all I knew! Turns out he was also single. I was thinking 'your looking good' and he was thinking 'your looking good' and, well after that I stalked him for a bit. (Well look, it's not really stalking if they like you back is it?) Well anyways we got together. When I told my brother about it he made some comment about running out of guys to chase and having to recycle my old crushes!

More technical stuff...

Today ive been messing about with the Labels that you can add to posts, I have created 5 so far; Weboulution, Books, Alphabet, music and Stuff I thought was fun. They make searching the blog easier, if you enjoy certian aspects of what i'm writing about you can just go straight to posts about that subject.

After too many cups of coffee, today's state of mind can only be described as 'In a flap'!

I recently read Judith Lucy's The Lucy family alphabet, an OK read, not fantastic but entertaining enough and I found many aspects of her life interesting. However the one thing I really loved about the book and that was it's construction. A is for Adoption, Bis for... well I can't remember what B was for but basically each letter became a heading for whatever story she was telling, it made for the book being quite disjointed but I liked the idea and thought it could become a great exersize in writing a memoir without being too overwhelming. I've always had this romantic idea of writing a book, not that I ever though my life was really interesting enough to warrant it, but well, why not!

So I thought I'd give it a go, not that I have yet decided what sort of style of writing this blog will follow, perhaps at this stage I will just consider it 'Eclectic'! This can just become one of many formats used until I , if ever, decide. Hey I'm queen of this blog and I can do whatever I want!!! Also, too predictable to start with A so I will start in the middle!

L is for Libraries...

Of course I used the library as a kid, but I rediscovered it as an adult when I had first moved to Melbourne. I was spending too much of my measly Cafe waitress wage on books, and with my gym being right across the road from the Brunswick library, I one day ventured in (all hot and sweaty and looking really attractive! But back to the story...) every single book on my most wanted list was in the catalogue, I was over the moon, (lucky too coz a few of those books turned out to be quite shite... luckily I hadn't got around to buying them!).

The day I decided to study to become a librarian was at the Sandringham library. I was sick of whatever menial retail job i was in at the time and dropped in a resume. The lady behind the desk handed it back with what can only be described as a look of utter superiority said "it's a four year degree to work in a library" oooohhh I'll show you nasty snooty beeatch!

The desire was satisfied for a couple of years working in what could only be described as a 'Book supermarket', I was happy to be surrounded by so much good stuff, but can pinpoint the exact moment I realised my dissatisfaction with the place, we had a new manager who was proud of the fact that he had only read one book (The BFG, he had got half way through the Twits and given up). Time to get my act together...

Looking into courses I found my long ago studied Arts degree was, finally, going to become useful. I undertook a one year Grad. Dip. and here I am, lots of adventures along the way but finally feel at least a little satisfied with where I am in life...