April 2008 Archives

Sunday we had an "open house" and had a bunch of people over.  Was somewhat chaotic, but settled down again in the evening and Chay and David and I had a few drinks while Stu sat in delirious tiredness.

Yesterday was a running around type of day.

Today is frantic packing and cleaning...

We never did find that bird... hope it doesn't smell too much for the housesitter!!

Heading up to Sydney soon and fly out on our honeymoon tomorrow morning.

I probably won't be blogging too much while we're away.. will depend on net access.  Will try and twitter a lot more regulary, assuming my global roaming works!

I don't have time for this!!!!  We're meant to be leaving in a couple of hours and we haven't packed or tidied up the house!!!  And there's over two and a half thousand photos *so far* to get through!!!! (more to come).  It's going to be very hard working making a wedding album, and even harder to do up a website.... eeeeep!!!

So the day of the wedding dawned still and foggy.  Always a great sign.  I had a lazy morning.  Although I did wake up early and not get back to sleep.  So eventually got up and had bacon, eggs and croissants for breakfast.  Very yummy. 

Got myself ready, then went for a drive in Scotty's new car because we had nothing better to do :)

Josie came around 10am and then the process of curling my hair began.

An hour and a half or so later....

Then my head became a pincushion for all the pins to hold up my hair.  hrmm.. heh.  Josie also did up all my makeup. 

So Kerry cooked us up some lunch while we waited for my parents to turn up (with the bouquet and flowers).  They eventually did but very late.  They ate their lunch then rushed off to get Stu's bag to take to the reception venue/hotel.  While I sat there at about 1:30 thinking it's really time to be getting dressed now, but George and Kerry were all "no you'll have to sit around for too long in it" .. hrmm.  At 1:45 I said no really, let's get dressed, so we did.  And a good thing too, as it still ended up being rushed at the end :/  Because they all had to get ready too, then people were coming and going and my parents still hadn't returned and it was starting to get stressful.  Eventually the parents got back, but then they had to get ready too.  So the whole last half hour was very rushed, and didn't get all the photos I would have liked.  Oh well.

So we packed off J&G, and mum and then Dad and I hopped in the car with "other Stu" for the ride to the church.  Stu had had some trouble attaching the ribbons to the car, and one actually came off at one end during the trip.. oops!  So we stopped just round the corner from the church to reattach it heh.  Arrived at the church pretty much dead on time.  To be met by the paparazzi.  Honestly it was hilarious, so many photographers there and lots of very nice cameras!

Managed to get my dress out of the car, had some more photos, then it was up to the church....

It was all very exciting.  Think we walked down the aisle a little too quickly though.  And so many cameras!! 

We should have had leaders for the singing, as people didn't "get" the boy/girl bits.. so it was a little silly, and the organist played them a little too slowly too which didn't help. 

I remembered my vows.  But after a little hesitation on the second line when Stu was doing his, the minister prompted Stu all the way through his.  Oh well.  So we were married!!

Then it was things like lighting the Unity candle, signing of the register etc.  And walked back down the aisle to Saint-Saëns' Symphony #3 (what else?? :) ).

Even more photographic chaos outside.  We didn't know where to look!  Lots of various family type shots were had and eventually we decided to head off to Lake Ginninderra for the "official" photos.  We went to this lake rather than Lake Burley-Griffin because the tower would be in better light from that direction (and there was a nice park with lots of autum trees - all very pretty).  So there were at least ten people all lined up taking photos, which was such a crackup.  And they were all comparing the size of each others' .. lenses... hehe (my brother won! :) )

When we'd all had enough and run out of light, we all piled back into cars and headed off to the reception.

I had "A Touch of Elegance" do up fairly lights all around the hall, and they looked fantastic!!  That and with the candelabras they provided, as well as 96 tealight candles I got off ebay, the room looked amazing. 

Entrees then dinner was served in quick succession.  People said the food was good, and what I ate of it was good, although I couldn't really fit much in given how tight my dress was, so I really just had a taste.  But then they brought out the desserts almost immediately afterwards, which was very upsetting for me because they weren't paying any attention to my schedule for the night :(:(  sigh.  So that really stressed me out for the rest of the night, because then it felt like the whole night they were trying to rush us out the door (in the end most people had left well before the official 10:30 finish).  *And* they ran out of some desserts, so people didn't get to choose at the end :(:( 

So after dessert Damien did a speech, then Stu did one too, then we cut the cake and did the bridal "waltz" which was nothing like a waltz, but people thought it was amusing.  At least it will be remembered!!

After the dance, took off back to our room and got out of my dress and slipped into something more comfortable.  *Much* more comfortable!!  Was able to walk around more, and even joined in some of the dancing.  My playlist was relatively well received, although they did complain that some of the tracks were too slow to dance to!  oops.  But I really wasn't even expecting people to dance much at all.. so there you go.  So deleted a few tracks towards the end and added some different ones in. 

Stu and I stayed til the bitter end so we could collect everything up and take it back to our room.  Because I was so stressed I didn't feel like being sociable, which meant a tonne of people just didn't get talked to by me, which was upsetting in itself.  I felt really bad afterwards that I'd been so neglectful, and so the whole thing left me feeling very bitter about the night.  Not helped by a massive pillow that I couldn't sleep well on.  So in the morning we didn't even stay for breakfast we just took all our stuff and left very early.  Thank goodness for maccas drive through! lol.

Anyways.  Noone else really noticed the problems with the scheduling, and everybody that I did talk to said it was a great wedding and good food, so I was glad about that.  Maybe one day I'll look back on it all and laugh.. hrm... hehee.  (We went back today to pickup some things we left behind and settle accounts, and they were very apologetic about everything and took off some of the cost of the additional pre-dinner drinks, so that was all very much appreciated and left me feeling a lot better).

So we're now very happily married.  Not that it feels a whole lot different.  I suppose it'd be different if we hadn't been living together first. 

We watched "The Wedding Singer" (or I listened to it rather as I didn't have my glasses on and couldn't see it) at Kerry's on the morning of the wedding while having my hair done.  There was a part were Drew Barrymore's character said she didn't think the butthead dude was the right man for her.  Which made me realise I never once had those thoughts about Stu.  And I asked Stu if he'd ever had any thoughts like that either and he said no.  So I reckon that's pretty darned cool!

I'm getting married today.. :)

Having bacon and eggs for breakfast.  Hairdresser is coming at 10.  Pretty much all organised.. I hope!

Next time I blog I'll be a married woman..!  I will be Twittering a bit more often though..

See you on the flipside :)

So had a small bunch of my friends go out to the Dumpling Inn for a kind of a hen's night thing.  It was very pleasant and gave some of my friends a chance to get to know each other before the wedding...

When the Olympic flame went through Sydney in 2000 I went and saw it.  Twice in fact.  On the same day.  heh

And all things being equal I might have gone to see it in Canberra today.  But decided to offer a silent protest to the whole Tibet nonsense and not go at all. 

I did however sneak a peak at the plane yesterday...  (sorry about the crappy photo)

4:38.  It was actually a little earlier than I needed to be up (alarm was set for 5am).  But that's when I woke up.  So got up and drove into the city, and it was still completely dark.

But the balloon people were arriving, as were the spectators.

About 6:25 they got into full swing.  By 7:30 they were floating in all directions above Canberra.

The only thing that could have made the morning better would have been some sunshine.  But I still went overboard with photos!  Next year I plan to go up in one :)

So I had most of the contents of a largish tin of tuna that needed to be eaten before I went away.  The perfect solution? Tuna casserole!  Except I didn't have either of my mum's recipes, and probably wouldn't have had the ingredients anyway. 

So I improvised!  Using whatever I could find in the house..

* most of a largish tin of tuna (I think I used springwater stuff - lower fat than in oil)
* a pack of alfredo pasta - one of those side dish packs
* a pack of cream of mushroom soup
* a small tin of corn kernels
* two tomatoes, diced
* a couple of handfuls of shredded tasty cheese
* a couple of cups of milk
* a cup or so of water

Top it with a mix of shredded cheese (finely grated would have worked better) and in this case wheatgerm in lieu of breadcrumbs.

Bung it in the oven for 3/4 hour or so

Enjoy!

(I shoulda taken a photo!)

See it's stories like this that worry me more than "actual" terrorism.  I am more worried about the goverments of countries like the USA and the UK than any potential terrorist threat there.  They are so utterly paranoid that I would fear my safety as a tourist going there.  Admittedly we didn't have too many problems going to the US in 2004.. aside from the little incident at the Canada border crossing.....

And if we ever go to the UK, we will *not* be going through Heathrow!

Seriously, I don't have the time for depression!  Instead of spending the afternoon planning, I watched videos.  What a frigging waste of time!  At least I cleared a few tapes I suppose..

Had a decent chunk of beef for dinner tonight, in case I was low on iron or something.

And we folded and stapled all the order of services tonight.  Was actually really pleasant the four of us around a table chatting while doing it.  Sure beat me doing it all by myself.

The organist said this to me today:

Thanks heaps guys that's great. Oh that everyone was as organised!

Which is kinda what I needed after such a crappy afternoon...

So went along to Stu's farewell lunch at his work..

<snip>

*sigh*

So eBay have had a couple of announcements in the last two weeks that freak me out somewhat.

The first was the announcement that PayPal and cash-on-delivery will be the only permitted ways of making payments for items on eBay (link). When I first saw this I thought it was an April Fool's joke. Except that it was April 10. eBay already rip people off with their fees, and now they want even more of the takings with PayPal fees. It's criminal!

The second is the Big-Brother monitoring they will be doing of accounts (link). If you list an item from a different computer, they may call you to see if it's really you. Now I can see the logic and security model of doing this, but I'd hate to think what could happen if they got it in their heads that you weren't who you said you were and they lock the account...

Had Natto and Andrew over last night for pizza and movies.  We watched Life of Brian first and then near the end of that "mawwiage" somehow came up and I said I think someone should say it at the wedding.  To which Andrew laughed but Natalie looked at me blankly.  And I'm all "You've never seen the Princess Bride!?!"  So we watched that afterwards and she liked it :)

Think the sparrow might be dead somewhere.  It didn't come out for food yesterday.  So it might have gotten trapped somewhere.  Great.  If we don't find it it'll prolly stink the house out somewhat :/

.. and the frigging little sparrow has taken to hiding behind things, rather than trying to fly out the windows.  Which makes it nearly impossible to catch.  Wasted twenty minutes of my life this morning chasing the little bugger.

We watched Serenity tonight after watching all of Firefly through (for me the third time).  I'd seen the movie after having only watched the pilot the first time.  But didn't enjoy it so much this time.  It didn't finish things off satisfactorily and it didn't have quite the same feel as the series and I just didn't like it as much.  Maybe that was just me.

But D was there and afterwards stated that he hated U2, and then said he liked the house but complained about the mess and why not get a cleaner.  Which just rubbed me the wrong way.  As it would anyone that's had a few drinks I'm sure.

*sigh*

Had a kind of a farewell lunch today, with five different sections in attendance and even Stu.  And completely unexpectedly a lovely gift of a mixed case of wine and cointreau.  I knew there was a card going around, but I didn't know there'd be any kind of gift, because the person that usually organises that sort of thing was on leave.  So it was all very lovely :)

There's a bird in the house.

This one.


I have no idea where it is.  I tried to let it out this morning but after I'd opened the door I turned around and haven't seen it since.  I know it's here because it's pooped all over the tv.  And it ate the seed I left out for it on the kitchen bench.  But I still can't find it.  Hoping it'll wake up in the morning and be more active so I can find it.

Actually this was the second bird in the house today!  The other one I did manage to catch, peer at for a while, the let go outside.  But the second one had a lot more energy and wasn't wanting to be caught...

So that takes us up to four birds that our fireplace has caught..

Seriously.  It's the best time of the year.  In Sydney it meant quieter roads and less traffic.  In Canberra it means a quiet and peaceful bus trip.  My bus this morning had two whole people on it when it got to my stop, instead of the usual 30 or so noisy kids. 

Bliss!!!

"If I took you to a concert, would you be able to enjoy it without humming?"

"No!"

Sorry sweetie :)

My head became a pincushion today as I had a trial hair and makeup application. 

So since I was having my hair and makeup done, we went out for dinner.  To Watersedge on the lake, which was very swishy.  And very expensive heh :)

$180 later... but it was all very nice.  I think I liked Stu's dishes of mushroom (entree) and lamb rump over my crab salad (entree) and duck.  But all so nice. :)

And not that that sounds *anything like* two girls one cup.... hrmmmmmm

I never thought I'd say it.... but I *miss* notes formula language programming!!!  I used to do quite a lot of formula language programming in my last job.. and everyone in the office would attest to the fact that I *hated* notes whenever I had to do this.  But now that I don't do it anymore, I miss it!!!

Musta been one of those love-hate things.... ;)

This was after helping someone at work debug some formula language programming.. and it was soooo cool to be able to do it!

Felt completely unmotivated tonight.

Waking up at 3:55am and not being able to get back to sleep probably didn't help :/

I did get some useful work done at work before anyone else got in.  But tonight had to force myself to do the washing up and go for a cycle.

Methinks time to get ready for bed..

Stu and I went to Au Lac vegetarian restaurant in Dickson for dinner tonight.  Though fairly basic, the service was efficient and our food came very quickly.  We had a chili "squid" and soy roast "duck" and both were remarkably well done, approximating the taste and texture of the real thing.  And quite cheap too, the whole meal was only $32 for the two of us.

Consolidated some of our fish tanks on the weekend.  We're down to ten, from fourteen (!)

We put a killi akura in with some guppies, but the little bastard terrorised my poor guppies, so now all the guppies are together in one tank and he has his own tank :(

And my beautiful crowntail betta finally died :(:(  Poor little dude.  I'd had him eighteen months, which is ok for bettas (and don't know how old he was when I got him).

Well it took five months, but last Friday I finished book eight of Anne of Green Gables.  The last book picked up somewhat from the idle gossip of books 5-6-7, and was a bit of a history lesson for World War I (from a tiny snippet from the other side of the world perspective). 

My biggest gripe with the books is the lack of any real character development (and lack of plot!).  You'd occasionally get insights into characters, but mostly they seemed pretty shallow to me.  And you are never kept up to date with the characters you got to know and like from book one.  They barely rate a mention in later books.  Like Diana, Anne's best friend through her youth is still called "Aunty Diana" but she's mentioned all of twice later on (give or take).  And poor Marilla aged and aged and you wondered if she was ever going to die (which of course she did unceremoniously between books seven and eight).  The books spent far too much time on boring side stories that had no real meaning for the story and uninteresting gossip.

I really did want to like these books, but really only the first one was any good, with the next three "ok". 

I was going to read the Little House on the Prairie series next, but not sure if in the mood for them...

Stu asked me tonight what I'd see in the Mirror of Erised.  The first thing that came to mind was a quiet but happy life with my sweetie, on our computers, doing our own things but still together in a life of domestic bliss.

So there.  :)

(Gonna need more John Williams at the reception.. :) )

So after my weather pixie said it was zero degrees and there was ice on the car this morning, I thought it might be time to wear my winter pyjamas tonight :)

I've been living in denial of it getting cold.  Just a couple of weeks ago it was in the thirties for days in a row.  And I don't want it to get cold yet.  I'll freeze to death on my wedding day at this rate..!  In Sydney I don't normally have to start wearing a jumper until May...

Got thoroughly demoralised at work today.  Feeling like I'm never going to figure out how everything works.  Feeling crippled by the "system" that makes it insanely hard to troubleshoot things.

There was a quote on House tonight that reminded me of someone at work and they way they interact with people...

"I’ve found you look a lot smarter asking the questions than dumbly not answering"

And I'm the one that can't answer cause I'm dumb :(

Went and saw Little Squishy on the weekend.  Nearly four weeks old.