Gosh, I go away for a couple of days and all sorts of stuff happens. Like I get home tonight and start trying to catch up on my blog news feeds and find this, and I'm like *egads* heheh. I went to find my own first commenter, and found I'd missed a few comments over the weekend (cause they normally get emailed to me, but the webserver was having a spac over the weekend and I didn't get the emails, so only just discovered those comments!) Some of the very original blogs I started reading are actually still around which is way cool. JC, CC, and Dennis I started reading in the first few days of my life in the blogosphere and they're still going. I'm pretty sure JC was my first ever commenter, and he was probably the first person I ever commented on too :)

So anyway. Four days of my life not blogged .. does anyone care? Probably not, but hey, this is for my own benefit, not anyone else's :)

Friday was easy day at work. Couple of lazy hours work in the morning followed by our Christmas party, which we had early cause one of the guys is going overseas this week. Ah crap, that reminds me, I'm gonna have to be the one changing tapes for December.. hrmmmmmm. Anyway, party was very pleasant, and then I hopped in my car and trekked down to Canberra.

Saturday was a trek to Belconnen for some shopping, with the evening at Scott and Kerry's with some nice Pakistani food and Monsters Inc.

Sunday was local shopping, and then out to Yass for Stu's birthday cake (the Other Stu :) )

This morning when my alarm went off at 6 I basically burst into tears and it was all I could do to actually get out of bed and go to work. Was positively dreading it. It turned out to be not so bad, I did actually get a couple of things done and kept all the crap-heapers at bay. The dreaded meetings database is still hanging over my head though, but I can avoid that another day, with a meeting with Luc on Wednesday to have another look at it. Tomorrow we upgrade the mail server to 7.0.2.. which has the potential to be messy heh :)

YOU CAN ONLY TYPE ONE WORD NO EXPLANATIONS!

1. Yourself: me

2. Your girlfriend/boyfriend: Stu!

3. Your hair?: blonde

4. Your mother?: mum

5. Your Father?: dad

6. Your Favorite Item: camera

7. Your dream last night: armageddon

8. Your Favorite drink: oj

9. Your dream car: wrx

10. The Room You Are In: study

11. Your Ex: married

12. Your fear: loss

13. What you want to be in 10 years: wife

14. Who you hung out with last night? friends

15. What You're Not?: sane

16. Muffins: blueberry

17: One of Your Wish List Items: MacGyver

18: Time: 2244

19. The Last Thing You Did: typed

20. What You Are Wearing: clothes

21. Your Favorite Weather: breezy

22. Your Favorite Book: STVI **

23. The Last Thing You Ate: dinner

24. Your Life: uncertain

25. Your Mood: subdued

26. Your body: unconditioned

27. What are you thinking about right now? memes

29. What are you doing at the moment? typing

30. Your summer? coming

31. Best part of your life: Stu

** how the heck are you meant to do a book title in one word? unless your favourite book just happened to be one word..? :)

Stolen from Dave

• DO YOU SNORE? Apparently, when I'm lying on my back
• ARE YOU A LOVER OR A FIGHTER? Probably a lover. Hate fighting.
• WHAT�S YOUR WORST FEAR? Having my house burn down
• AS A KID, WERE YOU A LEGO MANIAC? Don't know about maniac, but had a bit of space lego. I turned into a maniac when I grew up and discovered ebay
• WHAT DO YOU THINK OF �REALITY� TV? Some is good, some is crap
• DO YOU CHEW ON YOUR STRAWS? No
• WERE YOU A CUTE BABY? Somewhat I suppose.. you be the judge:

• IS THE SINGLE LIFE FOR YOU? No. Well I'm not single now, and that is a good thing, and when I was single it was a bad thing
• WHAT COLOR IS YOUR KEYBOARD? Black. But only because my old keyboard is ps2 and woulnd't work on my new computer
• DO YOU SING IN THE SHOWER? No
• HAVE YOU EVER BUNGEE JUMPED? No.. maybe one day
• ANY SECRET TALENTS? I give fairly good massages, but that's not really a secret
• WHAT�S YOUR IDEAL VACATION SPOT? Lord Howe Island
• CAN YOU SWIM? Yep
• HAVE YOU SEEN THE MOVIE DONNIE DARKO? Yes
• DO YOU GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE OZONE? Yes
• HOW MANY LICKS DOES IT TAKE TO GET TO THE CENTER OF A TOOTSIE POP? er.. dunno...
• CAN YOU SING THE ALPHABET BACKWARDS? Probably not.. never tried it
• DO YOU PREFER ELECTRIC OR MANUAL PENCIL SHARPENER? Don't think I've ever used an electric pencil sharpener..
• WHAT�S YOUR STAND ON HUNTING? Against it
• IS MARRIAGE IN YOUR FUTURE? Hopefully :)
• DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Not really
• WHAT ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO? The sun
• WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAID, �I LOVE YOU� ? The other night I think
• DO YOU CRY AT WEDDINGS? Not usually
• HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS? Fried
• ARE BLONDES DUMB? Well I'm a blonde and I'm dumb..
• WHERE DOES THE OTHER SOCK END UP? With the other one. I don't lose socks..
• WHAT TIME IS IT? 10:49am
• DO YOU HAVE A NICKNAME? Kazza
• IS MCDONALD�S DISGUSTING? No
• WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WERE IN A CAR? Last night
• DO YOU PREFER BATHS OR SHOWERS? Showers
• IS SANTA CLAUS REAL? pfft :)
• DO YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR NECK KISSED? er.. a bit ..
• ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? No, I'm only afraid of what might be hiding in the dark
• WHAT ARE YOU ADDICTED TO? Potato chips, so I don't buy them very often
• CRUNCHY OR CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER? Neither, never really liked peanut butter
• CAN YOU CRACK YOUR NECK? Not my neck, but my lower spine
• HAVE YOU EVER RIDDEN IN AN AMBULANCE? No
• IS DRUG FREE THE WAY TO BE? shrug
• ARE YOU A HEAVY SLEEPER? No
• WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR EYES? Sort of green, with a bit of brown and grey
• DO YOU LIKE YOUR LIFE? For the most part
• ARE YOU PSYCHIC? No
• HAVE YOU READ CATCHER IN THE RYE? Yes, wondered what all the fuss was about
• DO YOU PLAY ANY INSTRUMENTS? I play the recorder badly and the piano even more badly (ie, one note a time)
• HAVE YOU EVER STOLEN MONEY? Sometimes coins from people's coin piles, but I always ask if I can steal them (or pay them for them)
• CAN YOU SNOWBOARD? No
• DO YOU LIKE CAMPING? Not really
• DO YOU SNORT WHEN YOU LAUGH? Don't think so..
• DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? Wingardium Leviosa!
• ARE DOGS A MAN�S BEST FRIEND? Like Dave said, to some people
• YOU BELIEVE IN DIVORCE? Only as a last resort in abusive or otherwise extreme circumstances
• CAN YOU DO THE MOONWALK? Don't think so
• DO YOU MAKE A LOT OF MISTAKES? I guess so
• IS IT COLD OUTSIDE TODAY? Actually yes - 15.8C
• WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Sultana bran with milk
• DO YOU WEAR NAIL POLISH? Sometimes. I like glittery nail polish in funny colours (like blue)
• HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU LIKE RIGHT NOW? Umm....
• WHAT�S THE MOST ANNOYING TV COMMERCIAL? Those closing down sale ads.. there's a particularly annoying set in Australia with this dude with a horrible voice screaming out everything in a hurry
• DO YOU SHOP AT AMERICAN EAGLE? No (what is that anyway? :) )
• FAVORITE SONG AT THE MOMENT? At the moment..? dunno... don't really have one

This in Stu's local shopping centre.. I wonder how long they'll leave it there...

A Julidochromis transcriptus baby in Stu's tank..

My World Series Poker win .. if only playing real life people were so easy :)

Some mystery flower buds in Stu's garden

The colourful and tasty fish dinner Stu cooked on Sunday night

OK so this meme has been haunting my feedreader since *July* .. urggh ..
Time to actually do it and clear it out :)
As seen at various locations..

GRUB-OLOGY

What is your salad dressing of choice? Caesar. Or perhaps ranch

What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Subway

What is your favorite sit down restaurant? Have been to a few nice ones for cia parties, but don't know about my favourite. Maybe the L�wenbr�u Keller

On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant? In Australia just round it up to something even. In the US we were doing 15% and rounding it up to the nearest dollar or something even.

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? I don't know that I could eat *anything* everyday and not get sick of it. Although I do eat the same cereal every day for two weeks. Probably my potato bake.

Name three foods you detest above all others. Licorice, blue cheese, baked beans

What is your favorite dish to order in a Chinese restaurant? Mongolian lamb so long as it's not too spicy, or perhaps Peking duck

What are your pizza toppings of choice? Salami, pepperoni, bacon. And tonnes of cheese.

What do you like to put on your toast? Butter and some sort of jam

What is your favorite type of gum? Spearmint Extra

TECH-OLOGY

Number of contacts in your cell phone? Mine aren't numbered, but according the addressbook it synchronises with, 92.

Number of contacts in your email address book? See above. Although I also use Eudora and mutt, which have address books that I barely use.

What is your wallpaper on your computer? At home a nice picture of Stu. At work, currently some mountains in Idaho.

What is your screensaver on your computer? At home I don't have anything, the monitor just power saves after 15 minutes or so. At work it's the my pictures screen saver with 2000 photos from my 2004 USA trip.

Are there naked pictures saved on your computer? Probably

How many land line phones do you have in your house? One, which includes the adsl

How many televisions are in your house? One

What kitchen appliance do you use the least? My toaster.

What is the format of the radio station you listen to the most? Music during the day (not that I listen to it during the day) and bit of talk/variety in the drive times

How many sex toys do you own that require batteries? None

BI-OLOGY

What do you consider to be your best physical attribute? Probably my hair

Are you right handed or left handed? Right

Do you like your smile? Yeah it's ok

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Nah. Edit: actually my top two wisdom teeth - forgot about those :)

Would you like to? My brain

Do you prefer to read when you go to the bathroom? Only if I'm in the middle of a good book. Lately I've been playing poker on the blackberry

Which of your five senses do you think is keenest? Probably my hearing. I have astigmatism, and my sense of smell/taste is pretty crap

When was the last time you had a cavity? Never had one

What is the heaviest item you lift regularly? Computers semi-regularly. 10L buckets of water very regularly

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? No

MISC-OLOGY

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? Yeah I think so. Could plan stuff around it that way

If you could change your first name, what would you change it to? Maybe Arielle

How do you express your artistic side? I make Lego mosaics and take photos

What color do you think you look best in? Blue maybe?

How long do you think you could last in a medium security prison? Maybe a day or two. After that the lack of internet and Stu would kill me.

Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake? Dunno.. don't think so ..

If we weren�t bound by society�s conventions, do you have a relative you would make a pass at? No

How often do you go to church? Every other week or so. Depending if I'm in Canberra or not

Have you ever saved someone�s life? Don't think so

Has someone ever saved yours? No

DARE-OLOGY
For this last section, if you would do it for less or more money, indicate how much.

Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000? Probably. Although it'd need to be a street I wasn't likely to meet anyone I know

Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100? Probably, so long as it wasn't a full on pash

Would you have sex with a member of the same sex for $10,000? Don't think so

Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000? Nah don't think so. Would need to be at least a couple of million...

Would you never blog again for $50,000? Yeah probably, so long as I could still read them and do everything else

Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000? Noone would be interested! (except maybe Stu :) ) .. I'd consider it if it was "tastefully" done

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? I don't think I'd be able to

Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000? No. Although there was this one guy who stole my parking spot today .....

Would you shave your head and get your entire body waxed for $5,000? hrmm. Maybe. I think I'd do it, but it'd need to be for more than that.

Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000? Probably. Most things are available on dvd nowadays if I was really desperate to watch something later on.

Do you watch the Gilmore Girls?
No

Have you ever enjoyed listening to Jack Johnson?
Shrug

Have you ever seen or enjoyed watching the O.C.?
Never watched it

Do you have one or more Britney Spears CD?
Not even one

Are you a Lost fanatic?
I started off being interested, but it Lost me part way through the second season

[[Be honest]]

Do you have a song by Ozzy Osbourne in your library?
No

Queen?
I have about 10 Queen cds

Alannis Morrisette?
I have her first three albums

Do you watch Family Guy regularly?
No

Do you watch king of the Hill?
No

[[Admit it]]

Do you read trashy romance novels often?
No

Do you really work out every day?
Not unless you count the 10 minute walk to go get lunch

Have you ever eaten an entire pint, or more, ice cream by yourself?
No

Have you ever eaten nothing but junk food for a week straight?
No

Do you shower every single day?
Yes

Do you ever forget to give a Christmas/birthday present?
Yes

Do you sing obnoxiously in the car when you're driving alone?
Yes

Do you sing obnoxiously in the shower when no one's home?
Nah, cause I only sing along when I can hear the music and can't hear it in the bathroom (unless it was up really loud)

Have you ever watched a little kid's show when you were over 12?
Sure

Have you ever looked forward to going to school?
Not really

[[The Necessary Love Questions That Aren't So Necessary]]

Have you ever pretended your crush was with you when they weren't?
No

Did you draw pictures for your first crush back in elementary school?
I didn't have crushes til high school. And I didn't draw anything until David Bowie in year 11

Have you ever liked a girl/boy but didnt ask her/him out because you were afraid?
Probably

Have you ever written a poem/story about your love life?
No

Have you ever spent over an hour thinking about nothing but your crush?
Sure :)

Have you ever liked someone solely for their appearance?
mmmm David Bowie... Jason Isaacs........ :)

[[The Questions You Love: Completely and Utterly Pointless Ones]]

Do you eat all the servings in the food groups on a daily basis?
You mean the five food groups - fat, sugar, salt, alcohol and caffeine? :) Nah not those either actually :)

Are you ever a freak about cleanliness or organization?
Often

Have you ever been to South America or Africa?
No

Do you know how to knit?
I could probably still do plain stitch from memory, would have to lookup how to do perl (sp?) stitch

Do you have a cell phone or IPod with a patterned cover?
I have a penguin and a water droplets cover for my old 8210, but not currently

Have you ever written love song lyrics yourself and put them in your profile?
No

Do you keep a diary or journal?
Yeah, this :)

When you open your closet, what is the dominant color of your clothes?
At one stage it might have been blue, but I have most colours of the Millers t-shirts

[[Truly Unusual This or That Questions]]

Baskin Robbins or Coldstone?
Cold Rock ..? :)

Physics or chemistry?
Physics

Earphones or headphones?
Headphones

pink or teal?
Teal

Commitment or casual dating?
Commitment

Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings?
Harry Potter

Fly or road trip?
Fly.. although the prospect of not being able to take my camera on board is rather depressing :(

Starbucks or Caribou?
Well I've heard of Starbucks at least...

[[Another Wave of Random Questions]]

What is your favorite Disney movie?
Actually a tough one. Possibly Fantasia 2000, if you could call that movie. Or one of the Pixar ones

How much jewelry do you own?
Not much

Have you ever bought clothing at Sears?
No

My kribbies at work laid more eggs yesterday! I'm pretty sure it was yesterday as I looked in the morning and couldn't see any, but then again in the afternoon and there were eggs! yayyy. There are only two of their original babies left in the tank, and three in the baby chamber. The ones in the baby chamber aren't anywhere near as big as the free swimming ones are. Too much of their life lived in fear with no parents I guess.. heh

I also noticed papa krib picking at a dead guppy. Don't know which guppy. I always did have too many males.... Definitely have too many kribs in this tiny tank though, does anyone want some? They're cool to breed..... cc...? :)

This is cool, a list of most hated things... heh.. from Woosang:

MOST HATED...

FRUIT: Avacado maybe...
CANDY: licorice
BEVERAGE: coffee
COLOR: khaki
TOWN/CITY: LA is a pretty ugly place most of the time. Has a few good amusement parks though
TV SHOW: Maybe late night Rage when they have boring guest djs who put on boring songs
ASPECT OF MYSPACE: it poisons google searches
ASPECT OF INSTANT MESSENGER: with msn, that it doesn't save a session until you close it cleanly - if your computer crashes you could lose a whole night's conversation
ANIMAL: hyena maybe??? or spiders...
INSECT: mosquito
SEASON: winter when it's cold and dark, although it's good for the snow.. :)
AGE OF KIDS: teenagers

...WHAT ANNOYS YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING WHEN...

DRIVING?: people who push in
GOING THROUGH DRIVE-THRUS: people that have no idea what they're ordering, or order something so big it takes you fifteen minutes sitting behind them to get through, and you can't escape backwards if people are behind you
YOU'RE AT THE MALL: crowds
SLEEPING: having to wake up in the dark in the morning
SHOWERING: in Canberra, it's definitely getting dry in the frreeeeezing cold
YOU'RE AT THE BEACH: sand in your cossies .. I guess some beaches that isn't such a problem ... ;)
YOU'RE AT THE GROCERY STORE: having to take my backpack off my back so they can check it
COOKING OR BAKING: cleaning up

HOUSEHOLD CHORE DO YOU HATE THE MOST?: washing up
WAY TO DIE?: maybe being burnt or eaten alive...
WHAT'S THE MOST ANNOYING HABIT IN OTHERS?: anything involving bad personal hygeine
WHAT IS YOUR WORST HABIT?: no comment ;)
WHAT FASHION TREND (PAST OR PRESENT): a recent one is the jeans that have pre-worn areas like someone spends their whole life rubbing their thighs. Talk about a fashion disaster.
POPULAR SONG (PAST OR PRESENT): Groove is in the Heart (although I hated the video clip more)
WORST PART OF YOUR JOB: the stress when things break
WORST PICKUP LINE YOU'VE GOTTEN: don't know that I've ever gotten one.. I don't get out much..
WORST THING ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL: fitting in
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST ANNOYING THING ABOUT GIRLS?: bitchiness
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST ANNOYING THING ABOUT GUYS? obsession with sex

From Dave

Have you...

( ) Smoked a cigarette. Nope
( ) Crashed a friend�s car. No
( ) Stolen a car. No, but have had my car stolen
(x) Been in love. Yes
(x) Been dumped. Yeah, although we got back together shortly afterwards and it took me over a year to get rid of him
( ) Shoplifted. No, but I did steal some chalk from kindergarten once and then had to lie about where I got it, and it turned me quite off lying/stealing heh
( ) Been fired. Nope
( ) Been in a fist fight. No
( ) Snuck out of your parent�s house. Nah
(x) Had feelings for someone who didn�t have them back. Haven't we all?
( ) Been arrested. Nah although have done a few things you could be arrested for.. ;)
( ) Gone on a blind date. No, but I did send two of my friends on a blind date, and they ended up getting married
(x) Lied to a friend. Not deliberately, but have probably stretched the truth on occasion
( ) Skipped school. Nah I was a goody-two-shoes
( ) Seen someone die. Only on tv shows/movies/docos
(x) Been to Canada. Yes, it was lovely
( ) Been to Mexico. No
(x) Been on a plane. Yep, totally love it
( ) Set a part of yourself on fire. eeek, no thankfully
(x) Been skiing. Yep, love it, but it's expensive and I have noone to go with
(x) Met someone from the Internet. Yes a few times
(x) Been to a concert. Yep
(x) Taken painkillers. Yes
(x) Love someone or miss someone right now. Stu .. so far away ..
(x) Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by. Yep
( ) Made a snow angel. I don't think I ever have, but have taken photos of kids making them
(x) Had a tea party, pretend or otherwise. When I was a kid
(x) Flown a kite. Yeah but not in like 20 years
(x) Built a sand castle. Yeah, but again not in ages
( ) Gone puddle jumping. Over or into..? :)
(x) Played dress up. When I was little mum had some old clothes we could use
(x) Jumped into a pile of leaves. Probably, although huge piles of deciduous leaves aren't that easy to come by in Sydney
(x) Gone sledding. The funnest time was probably when we went to the snow when I was about 12 and we tobogganed on cafeteria trays :)
(x) Cheated while playing a game. On the very rare occasion I've maybe glanced at cards that haven't been held up properly.
(x) Been lonely. Too much of my life
( ) Fallen asleep at work/school. Nah
( ) Used a fake ID. Nah
(x) Watched the sun set. Yeah. I love sunsets.
(x) Felt an earthquake. Well technically I didn't *feel* the Newcastle earthquake, but I was in a newsagent and heard all the shelves rattle
(x) Slept beneath the stars. I had my head out of the tent one time in Central Australia. My brother slept outside that night. And then it rained.
(x) Been tickled. Yes, but thankfully I'm not as ticklish now as I used to be. And Campbell and Striker are much more ticklish :)
(x) Been robbed. My car once, and stuff from my car a couple of times, but not mugged
(x) Been misunderstood. Yeah
(x) Petted a reindeer/goat/kangaroo OR jackalope. What's a jackalope? Have petted the others though
(x) Won a contest. Yeah but not many
(x) Run a red light/stop sign. I've occasionally gone through stop signs without coming to a complete stop. Especially the one at the end of my street that used to be a give way sign.
( ) Been suspended from school. Nope
(x) Been in a car crash?. I was in my parents new car when it was run up the back of, and with Luc once when he bumped into someone from behind. Oh yes, there was the time I broke a blinker light crashing into someone who I thought was going to make the turn but then they changed their mind and stopped again.
( ) Had braces. No
(x) Felt like an outcast/third person? Again, far too often
( ) Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night.No
(x) Had deja vu. Sure
(x) Had deja vu. .. :) (I liked Dave's responses of a glitch in the Matrix)
(x) Danced in the moonlight. Probably
(x) Liked the way you looked. Sometimes bits of me
(x) Witnessed a crime. I witness illegal activity all the time on the roads, some of that is probably criminal
(x) Questioned your heart. I guess so?
(x) Been obsessed with post-it notes. I have all these different colours...
(x) Squished mud through your bare feet. Yeah, but I prefer not to get dirty
(x) Been lost. Yeah
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country.Yep, went to Western Australia in 1984
(x) Swam in the ocean. Yes
(x) Felt like dying. Yes
(x) Cried yourself to sleep. Usually I run out of tears before I actually fall asleep. Have woken up with red eyes a few times though
(x) Played cops and robbers. Maybe
( ) Recently colored with crayons. Crayons.. not recently .. although coloured pencils I have...
(x) Sang karaoke. A couple of times
(x) Paid for a meal with only coins. Sure
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn�t. Yeah
( ) Made prank phone calls. Nah
( ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose? Don't think so
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue. Yeah I think so
(x) Danced in the rain. Dunno.. maybe...
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus. Not a formal letter, but we did ask him to deliver a present from our place to my great grandmother's place. Strangely enough he didn't and left a return note that Rudolph was too tired to make that extra trip.
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe. Nah
(x) Watched the sun rise with someone you care about. Do my parents count..? heh
(x) Blown bubbles. Bubbles!!!! bubbles bubbles bubbles! My bubbles.
( ) Made a bonfire on the beach, at the lake. Don't think so
( ) Crashed a party. Nah
(x) Gone roller-skating. Yep, and rollerblading
(x) Had a wish come true. Probably
( ) Jumped off a bridge. No

Had a lovely day today. The type of weekend day that you should have every weekend. Snuggling with the love of your life, going for a drive to little country towns, taking cool photos, watching Star Trek, going shopping, cooking nice food, watching movies, drinking wine and mint baileys, and going to bed with the love of your life.

:)