GB and I were pro-renting. We wanted to live close to the city in a nice neighbourhood and take a European holiday every 2 years. This was the plan and how we were living for the past 6 years or so. This week saw us visiting a house inspection, having an appointment with a mortgage broker and considering a "family agreement" with GB's mum about living arrangements.

What has changed?

The latest rental property. We both really like the house, the huge garage (man cave) and outdoor entertaining area. Could even be the best house we have ever rented with regard to suitability to lifestyle and general amenities. Not including the location of course,which sucks. We find ourselves firmly planted in the middle of eastern suburbia, surrounded by Home Depot MEGA stores. The landlords / Real Estate have been the most frustrating part of it, since before we even moved in. 4 weeks ago, by sheer coincidence we discovered that they will not be renewing our lease at the end of the current 12 month lease (which ends several days after our wedding and a couple of weeks before our trip to Germany). This prompted many discussions about the ordeal and expense of moving house.

Decision made. We need to actually own somewhere so we don't have to move EVER AGAIN.

So what is the problem. I found a house that is just amazing and I love it and find that I am now so emotionally involved in the idea of having this particular house that the wait and negotiation that I have ahead is seriously making me distracted and short tempered. And we still don't have a go ahead for finance from the mortgage broker yet.....

But you can guarantee if we get this place we will be having one hell of a house warming!

Photo Journal of Thailand Resort Trip of 2012 (Geekboy and me)

This is what a resort holiday is all about. 4 nights, 5 days of hot humid weather. Polite lovely staff wanting to accommodate your whims, a free mini bar every day, great food, a private pool and pina coladas!

It was all about the our very own pool

Beach and Bar

Yet more pool time

Gardens, one our suites garden complete with hammock, the other the walk ways of the resort

Happy Hours

We did visit Patong for a day. Hated it.



I did like MEGA Buddha though



Sweaty!

It's all in the company

There are a couple of hallmarks of a truly great get together. The most common is dancing and singing and the reference to the event for days/weeks to come are the classics, however when you have the spontaneous outbreak of limbo you know some fun was had!

With that I get to cross #79 Host a party for some of my work colleagues off my list.

There are one or two very hazy photos on peoples phone as proof of some of the shenanigans but I have none to post.

Beechworth

A brewery weekend organised for GB and I get to cross off #45 Visit a town/city I have never been before off my list.

Almost 4 hours north east of Melbourne lies Beechworth, which claims to be Australia's best preserved gold rush town. It is a cute little township capitalising on the tourism is has.

We stayed at The Old Priory, a big old convent converted into a guest house, which was a spit from the main street of town and a long arduous walk of all of 4 mins to the Bridge Road Brewery located on the main strip. You can guess that GB and I spent many an hour over the 3 days at this place. Bunkered down to try the many beers on tap and one or two of the lovely pizzas.

Beechworth also have several "Ghost Tours" one of the Lunatic Asylum (Mayday Hills) and one of the Gaol. We did both. At night. They were both creepy and a little unnerving but it was on the gaol tour that I actually lost it. I screamed and grabbed at GB like I was scared. Pfft. Even though the scare was orchestrated it still freaked me out for the rest of the tour. This now has me thinking that perhaps I need to conidtion myself a little bit. I can't be going around screaming like a nuffer at a loud noise.

We also took a drive out to Bright to check out the brewery there. It was incredibly hot and as I was being the driver for the day it lacked a certain amount of beer to make it more enjoyable than it was. GB liked it though.

It was nice playing tourist for the weekend.

Into the New Year and beyond

So I merged all post from any other blog that I had to this one. It feels better - less cluttered.

I also added my new 101 things to do in 1001 days list. I won't be keeping a seperate blog this time. I will unlikely post every event on the list either, which is probably evident from my updating habits anyway.

Looking forward to the new year. Yet again a year of holidays and adventure for me. I am going to concentrate on what I do all the time, having fun and not being too uptight about the little things (unfortunately for me this is a constant battle).

3, 2, 1 Action!

The earphones go in. Song is selected. Volume turned up.

In my mind I am in the opening credits of my own movie. Today I am in a romantic comedy, Dolly Parton is singing 9 to 5 and I am strutting down Elizabeth St with a dorky smile on my face. I am smiling at everyone. The sun is shining, everyone around me seems to feel that this is my movie day and is co-operating by being happy little extras with no lines.

Some days I am in an altnerative adult drama and Radiohead are playing.....

Coming Home

Sometimes you are what you dislike in others. Mostly I hate it when I have one of those moments but really they are invaluable to me as a marker of why I strive to be better, why I reflect on my motivations and actions.

Today I judged someone based on their appearance/age. I could blame it on fear of having someone do the same to me. I could blame it on my low self esteem. None of that matters because I did it and then the person proved what an asshole I was, by being one of the better/nicer people I have met in years.

This person has ignited a little spark of hope in me.

The island of the Long White Cloud

It is Rugby World Cup 2011 time in New Zealand, and it is also the time that my boss says yes to me taking a trip to the Auckland office. Exciting right. Yep, I think so too and I am sticking with that.

My usual routine for a city that I have never travelled before and I am lucky enough to land the night before I have to start work is: I check into my hotel and check out the facilities available (I mainly mean wifi or other means of communicating with strangers and looking at photos of cats or other cute small animals), I then go walking.

The walking bit is great. I love wandering the streets and looking into shops/cafes/pubs and trying to pluck up the courage to enter. When I was younger and a smoker I was quite the extrovert. I know you see it too, don't you, underneath the chubby layers.....it has become dormant and I now struggle a little with the whole being on my own, surrounded by groups of friends and couples. But that is not to say I let it get stop me from going out and making an effort to experience what I can.

Tonight I wandered down to the waterfront area, Quay St. They have a boat show on at the moment and some additional shops specifically for the RWC tourists. I hear strains of Crowded House coming from an Irish pub and I know that I have found my venue for the evening. Comforting in its standard decoration in the vein of all Irish pubs, I make my way to the bar and buy a pint of Tui Blonde (don't hold it against me - I sometimes order beer by sentimental reasonings more so than taste). I find a booth and settle in for an evening of live music from a mediocre guitar playing solo singing rough neck and some rugby on the tv.

It is 5 mins until the game starts and suddenly the crowds pour in. I am now sharing my booth with 2 different friend groups who are all eyeing me off wondering what I am doing taking up space that means some of their friends can't sit down. The singer is going from bad to worse; Oasis is followed by Bon Jovi. It is not even 21:00! The crowd sing along in a swaying mass of drunkeness ".....I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride....."

It then occurs to me that these people have been drinking since the first game of the day at around 15:00 (if not before). They have many hours of intoxication under their belts and it is glaringly obvious to me that I am the only sober person in the bar excepting the staff. I then concluded I had to get drunk very fast and join in the revelry or perhaps it was time to take my leave....

I chose the boring option. And as the door closes behind me I hear the first few bars of Guns n Roses and I keep walking wishing that I had stayed for just one more song.

Friends of the Zoo

The Geek and I have become friends of the Zoo. This enables us to flash our membership cards at any Victorian Zoo and gain entry, discounts on the twilight concerts and other fun stuff.

We decided to hit up Werribee Zoo on the weekend. Being Father's Day it was a little too crowded with children for my liking but I think all zoos are generally anyway. The day could not have started any better than with me spotting a tiny tiny tiny! field mouse running for its life through the car park. It was so very small and quick.

The rest of the day was spent oohing and ahhhing over the animals and enjoying the fact that we both love spending time doing dorky stuff like this.

We only had my tiny point + shoot camera so the pics are not as great as I wanted them to be and the rain and hail kind of got in the way at times....

The music

There are a couple of songs that will always take me back to a certain place and time.

All that you can't leave behind by U2 - will always remind me of the halfway house in Hammersmith, UK and dying of Glandular Fever.

Empire state of mind by Alicia Keys - will always remind me of the loft apartment in Barcelona, where the geek and I spent a week of fun and mayhem.

Shipbuilding by Suede - will always remind me of the morning after the Jeff Buckley concert in Tweed Heads and hitting up McDonalds in Coolangatta with my best friend at 6am.

Molokai Woman by (unknown) - will always remind me of Molokai and my first Island holiday with my mum and twin. Driving a huge people mover around a tiny island on the wrong side of the road :)

Easy by Faith No More - reminds of the geeks room at his parents house, with street signs on the walls, a computer rack and the constant whirring of computers.


And any song by Dire Straights reminds me of my childhood home and my Dad.