Ummmm, yeah. It's totally only been a few days. Don't mind me, I got lazy. What have I been up to? Well, the usual mostly. Sweet bugger all. With a few exceptions.
I sent myself down to Canberra a while ago to visit some friends who recently bought themselves a house and got engaged. It was quite nice, cold, but nice. Went to my beloved Bus Depot Markets, enjoyed food (as I always do) and did a bit of shopping too (Hello Lush!).
Also hit the furniture shops with my friends, which got me excited because I'm one of those nutcases that actually enjoys furtniture shopping. Seriously. You know how some girls get their buzz from clothes or shoe shopping? (Both of which I despise, just for the record.) I get mine from things like furniture shopping, or appliance shopping, and going "OOOH! Look at that! When I've got my own house, I'm gonna get one of those!". I do a similar thing with paint colours. Occasionally I'll just get the urge to go to a hardware shop and browse through their paint colour charts and bring a mountain home with me. Honestly, there is a shoebox gradually filling up with these.
Have also managed a catch up with one of my best mates who lives on the other side of the country. Only get to see him maybe once a year these days if I'm lucky, so it was a pretty awesome day.
Been heading in to the lapidary club that I'm part of one Friday a month, and lately have been going on Saturdays too. Having fun shaping and polishing stones, and will venture into the silver work side of things again soon too. Itching to work with copper moreso, but I suppose the silver is somewhere to start. :)
Have discovered another author that I'm adoring the work of. I've noticed Robin Hobb's books in a lot of my friend's bookcases, but have never got around to reading them. Was just looking for something new to add to the library one day and figured why not? Fantasy type stuff, and I would highly recommend her books.
Have been cooking a bit more recently. Taught myself to make cheese sauce last weekend. Ever so proud of myself. Was making a lasagne/pasta bake (gluten free pasta, bolognese sauce with limited fructose containing ingredients, limited onion) and had made a bol before, was a little worried about the pasta (despite my love of cooking and food, I think I'd only cooked pasta once before), and was terrified of the cheese sauce. Turned out a treat though. Have had fun with rissoles, savory mince, meatloaf and a few other bits and pieces. Also planted a few cloves of garlic two weeks ago and they're growing like there's no tomorrow. I love using garlic in things and go through it fairly quickly, so figured I'd try my hand at growing it. Am going to experiment with growing chillis and capsicum (bell pepper) from seed too.
I suppose the best bit of news I've got is that I finally landed a permanent job!!! And govenment to boot! :) Absolutely stoked. It's the same one I started as a temp at last October. I put in for a permanent role that was going just before my temp one finished and missed out, but only just. They said I was at the top of the 'reserve' list which was disappointing at the time but hey. I was put on a three month contract with one or two of the other temps that had been there, and then the 12th of May rocked around and I was told a person had left which meant there was a position available and did I want it. I think I nearly passed out, I've been trying to get permanent work for what seems like forever now. There's so many benefits with this job; the pay, discounted uniforms, one day off a month paid (hence the Friday at the lapidary club), the leave, the people I work with and for, opportunities for training and education, and if I so chose I could be in this job until I choose to retire. The best bit? I will be able to buy a house. As a temp, you're laughed at if you try to rent or buy. Now? I should hopefully be buying my first house in about 18 months.
So yeah. That's me about summed up. Apart from a special shout out to one of my friends on the blog-o-sphere and her man, The Gutsy Girl, who announced recently that after so long of trying, they're expecting to welcome a new life into the world. Here's to hoping everything is absolutely perfect in every way imaginable, and every way unimaginable as well. You both deserve it. I just hope Penny learns to share her parents!
