Not your average choir girl

It surprises me that I can still be surprised by people who behave badly... for all that I try to be cynical I guess I just can't help but look for the best in people. I must work on that. Kill the inner Pollyanna. KILL! Also, remember to listen closer to the voices emanating from my gut... there's lots of soundproofing between them and my ears but I do still hear them, and I should pay attention and trust them. They know when someone is lying. After all, we've had plenty of experience with liars.

*sigh*

Pleasant evening and dinner out had a shadow cast over it when I arrived back at the station and discovered that some fucker, for no good reason, had ripped the streamers out of Dutchie's handlebars, tearing one apart and leaving it strewn on the footpath in sad little splashes of bright, and chucking the other one in the gutter... pointless and mean. Why are people such haemorrhoids? I salvaged the one from the gutter, but they actually tore the end off the pluggy bit in the handlebar, so the pluggy bit is still stuck in there with no way to get it out, and it would be a bit pathetic and pointless to reattach just one streamer. I am actually quite sad about this, they were a gift, and they made me happy, and I just don't understand why someone would be so mean as to destroy them.

*sigh*
( lots of rather more positive blather under here )

I had such a lovely day yesterday :) I had a wee bit of a sleep in, and then was productive around the house with washing and stuffs... then I strapped my polka dot panniers to my pushy and headed off down to the shops, where I loaded them up with super cheap vegies, and a loaf of bread.

I freaking LOVE World of Fruit at Campsie, I'm soooo broke, and with payday not until Wednesday I had $20 to buy sufficient groceries to feed myself until then. After doing a pantry stocktake I realised that I had the base fixings for a pasta dish or two, risotto, and curry. Now, meat is expensive, so I'm a veggo this week... for $9.50 at World Of Fruit, I bought a 1kg bag of zucchinis, a 1kg bag of broccoli, 2 large eggplants, 2 tomatoes, 3 very large potatoes, and 1 red onion. With that and what I have in my pantry, I can make: creamy zucchini and broccoli pasta bake, vegie pasta with a red sauce, eggplant and potato curry, broccoli and tuna risotto, stir-fried garlic broccoli, garlic mash with roast zucchini and eggplant... lots of nominess :) I am the queen of eating well on not much money, they should put me on one of those horrid today tonight type stories on How To Feed Your Family For $30 a week. I have plenty of good healthy yummy food for dinners, enough for leftovers for lunches, a loaf of fresh delish bread from teh bakery for $2 for brekky toast.... I win!

So, once loaded up with vegies, I donned my helmet once more and rode my bike all the way to Leesa and Huons, exploring the sneaky back way which cuts out the big scary hills and main roads/traffic. It only took about 15/20 minutes, including getting off to walk up a hill, and across a footbridge. And it was AWESOME fun! I love my bike, love love love her! I'm still hilariously unfit, but even in the couple of weeks I've had her I feel like that's improving, I'm WAY more confident on her now and ride in with the traffic without too much worry... except for the fact that I am still too scared to take either hand off the handlebars to either make hand signals for where I am turning, or flip off annoying drivers who honk at me for having the temerity to be a fatchick on a pushy on the road that they have to overtake...

I then spent the afternoon hanging out with Leesa and Huon, and then Robin turned up, then Ange and Shane arrived, then Aaron, then Dean, and finally Tim. Throughout the afternoon I polished 6 pairs of boots and one rubber kilt, which made me all kinds of happy because, well, I love polishing boots, and I love being of service to others, and I loved being able to send my beloveds off to Inqui with shiny shiny boots to complement their gorgeous outfits!

It was so much fun being there and part of everyone getting ready for Inqui, helping with this outfit, plaiting that hair, lining up boots, tightening that corset... having a bit of a dance in the loungeroom :) I was asked a few times by different folk if I would change my mind about going, but as much as I loved and was enjoying the pre-inqui fun, I was not even remotely tempted to change my mind. The thing I love most about big parties is getting ready with the urban family, the chaos and fun and excitement of 8 people in one house all getting glam at the same time, helping each other with outfits hair and makeup, admiring the unveiling of gorgeous outfits that have been made just for this night and kept a secret until now... that's the bit I love the most, and without the anxiety of a big scary party underlying it I enjoyed it even more last night. My only regret is that I didn't get to see ALL the family in their Inqui finery... but I'm sure everyone looked stunning :)

As everyone left to catch the bus, I took Ange's car and brought it home, had a sammich for dinner, watched some teevee and then went to bed rather happy and content.

Today I am just pottering about the house and waiting for the call of "Taaaaaaam, can you come and drive us to maccas??", and will then hang about at the Den with the post-trashies, collect my bike and ride to best-boys for the making of cupcakes, and then home again.

HUZZAH!

I won the cute polka dot panniers! Only $4 over budget including postage! Huzzah!

have successfully ridden to the station and home every day this week. Riding on the road feels surprisingly safer than riding on the foot path, pedestrians are scary and unpredictable and annoying and listen to MP3 players...

My nethers kind of hurt when I'm sitting on the bike, I am sure this will get better soon, but for the time being... ow... also, cycling apparently uses bum muscles and apparently nothing else I do really uses these because so far that's the only muscular ache I've had ...

I am so seriously unfit and seriously need to cut back on the smokes... hills, even quite low-gradient ones, defeat me. But I figure that walking a pushbike up a hill will still contribute to eventually being able to pedal it up there, and I pedal as far up the hill as I can until I'm going so slow that I can't balance anymore before I get off... The voices in my head for once are unified in cheering me on which is a beautiful thing :)

I have lots of good stuff happening this weekend... looking forward to it!

I had a very strange, somewhat biblical dream the other night... the bit I remember most distinctly (and this was just a small part of the whole) was that there was a giant snake wrapped around a tree and I'd gone there with a guy friend to climb the tree only we couldn't because the snake was there, so he was standing in front of it distracting it so that I could sneak up and grab it around the neck, which I did with much aplomb and I got it in a headlock (REALLY big snake) and accidentally hit the trigger point that made it spit all it's venom out (which I thought was ace, but I totally didn't know how I did it) but then it started talking and telling me off for being so mean to it, in this kind of whiny voice, and I felt really bad... meanwhile the guy was sitting on a picnic rug watching all this and eating an apple only he did not look like the guy I knew it was, he had kind of poofy wavy hair, a bit Hugh Grant-ish circa Four Weddings and a Funeral... very very odd, and oddly biblical in it's symbolism... not sure I really want to think too closely about what it all means!

I am getting slammed at work at the moment, it's good because it keeps me engaged and busy, but eeeeesh... lunch breaks and leaving on time would be nice... just occassionally, mind... ah well, caffiene is my friend!

Woo Friday Happy Dance!!!

Orrr..... this one????

It's PINK!! :) and it's called a Huffy... which just somehow seems like the perfect name for a bike for me!!!! I can't find all the specs and stuff for it on the intarwebs though...