Dan & Ness

So a recap of how my 2009 plans went:

- getting fit to a level I am happy with -Well I did finally complete the Couch to 5k. Super proud of myself. So I can get on the treadmill and run for 30 odd minutes. How often I do this though is not as much as I would like it to be. Fitness is still on my list for 2010. More of it. And more intensity. 2010 is the year of flab-busting and toning up!

- getting a job in the seo industry – Oh career, where did you escape to? Well, I will say that my working life is never too dull. Throughout 2009 I had 3 ‘jobs’ and started a fourth. Let me say that I did spend some time working in the seo industry, however that is not what I ended the year doing.

- learning Spanish – Tried. Didn’t really succeed. Need to try harder next time.

- traveling to Austin, Washington DC, NYC, Vegas, hopefully Mexico, and then Australia for Christmas (and many more if there are opportunities) – Partial success. We traveled to Austin for SXSW. We spent several fun days in Washington DC. And we recently spent a glorious week vacationing in Mexico. Did not make it to NYC or Vegas or back to Australia. Locally we spent a weekend in Brenham, and I am hoping we explore Texas much more in 2010. I also recently spent a weekend visiting  friends in Blacksburg, Virginia. This was a fairly hasty trip plan but was just what I needed.

- taking classes in photography, crafts and cooking and doing more scrapbooking – So I took various classes in each of photography, crafts and cooking. These things inspired me much more at the beginning of the year and my interest waned as the year wore on. And likewise I was so into scrapbooking the first few months of the year, was enjoying the weekly challenges, but this too fell off the radar. I think it was a combination of laziness and distraction. These things still interest me and also allow me to be creative, which is something that has definitely been lacking in my life lately. I do plan to devote more time to these in 2010.

- doing a lot more cooking and eating healthy homemade meals – Well we still do eat alot of home-cooked meals, and fairly healthy too. But there is always room for improvement and this is something I do want to continually expand on.

- going to a Rockets, Astros, and possibly a Texans game – Rockets, yes. Astros, yes. I am always up for a basketball and baseball game. Texans on the other hand, big fat no. Still see no merit in this sport.

- making new friends – Dan and I made some great friends this year, I think we did well in who we chose to spend our time with. Two friends I made in particular, both around the beginning of the year, were Aimee and Alice. And I got to know other people through them also. Dan of course joined the football team and became sentimentally attached to Reuben (and both of us to the adorable Lindsay). We also developed a soft spot for Andrew (my defacto husband one day, Facebook un-friend the next) and numerous others. Yes, including you Charles. And not to forget my dear friends back home. I think about you alot and I hope you know how much I miss you.

- getting my Texas drivers license -Done and dusted. I was really upset at failing my parallel park the first time. But really, a minor setback in the scheme of things.

I have mixed feelings about 2010. I caught a good dose of homesickness the last few months of this year and it is taking a while to clear up. I really accomplish much more with structure and routine, however this bores me very quickly. I am currently planning how I want next year to look in terms of travel plans, hobbies and goals. But let’s be honest, things never really go to plan.

Sept 2009. In no order of importance, I give you:

Good

• Family. They love me. I love them. (thanks mum for the awesome letter that i received today).
• Friends. I really miss my good friends sometimes! And they are so far away. Marsha is about to have her baby. Michelle is about to present her first conference paper. Tiffany is married and madly in love. I am so proud of them. Awwww. And I miss meals with Sonja. And Guitar Hero with Matt. And everyone else, I loves ya all.
• New friends.
• Finally finishing Couch to 5K. (and still going!). Holy shit if I can do that I can pretty much do anything.
• Trying out a new work path and learning new things.
• Moving soon to a fab house in a fab neighbourhood.
• Getting my US drivers license.
• Dan. For putting up with the good, the bad, and the other.

Bad

• Being the hardass that I am, failing my driving test the first time. Humiliating. Parallel parking. Pffft.
• Reuben soon to be leaving the country (more for Dan’s sake really).
• Migraines. Yep, still get them.
• Eating too much.
• Drinking too much.
• Acting like a juvenile too much.

It Is What It Is

• American football. I may never like it. (or understand it. or respect it).
• Finally realising that I am unable to function properly in life if I don’t have constant change and work towards meaningful goals that I can cross off a list.
• Say Hello, Vanessa

There is a very good reason why I was conspicuously quiet during the month of June. Mum and John were visiting and stayed with us the whole month. They dealt with the charming hot weather and got out and about, and we were busy on the weekends doing touristy stuff. And what’s more, we all survived! It was great having our first visitors Some highlights:

Astros baseball game

George Ranch Historical Park

NASA

Aquarium

Galveston (pier)

Dinners

A couple of recent purchases that have made me happy lately:

Finally decided to bite the bullet and buy a treadmill. It really is the only way I will be doing any running over here. Spent a little more than the very basic model as Dan anticipates using it during the long humid and sweltering summer. I am doing quite well so far, just need to do it more consistently. In the way of fitness I also recently invested in Tracy Anderson’s Mat Workout and Post-pregnancy Workout dvds. I have heard mixed things about these workouts so will see how I go (and the latter is supposedly kick ass even if you are not post-pregnancy, like I am(!), for abs, hips, thighs)

Finally got to buy my very belated birthday present! Finally have my hands on a Canon digital slr, and I’m glad I waited a little longer for this one to be released as it also has video. It is one of Canon’s basic dslr models but I am super excited and can’t wait to learn how to use all the functions and take many pics.

For some reason I have always loved papasan chairs and always wanted one. I seem to have the perfect body for curling up in them nice and snug. A friend of a friend was getting rid of her chair base for cheap and I couldn’t resist. I also bought the cushion on sale the same day.

Recent purchase from Target. I love these $24 Champions. They were just what I was looking for to walk around all of DC in. They stood up well and are very comfy.

We just arrived home after spending 4 nights in the nation’s capital. Yesterday was also Memorial Day (and federal holiday), so there was alot to see and do. DC was pretty awesome, we had lots of fun seeing the sights and walking around everywhere soaking up the history. It had quite a laid-back feel to it, which I was pleasantly surprised about.  We had wonderful weather except for yesterday afternoon when it rained, but it didn’t really spoil anything. A couple of shots:

Tudor Place in historic Georgetown.

Old Stone House in Georgetown.

Front of the White House.

View of the Capitol from the Newseum museum.

Out front of Ford’s Theatre.

Out the front of the Capitol.

Inside the Lincoln Memorial.

View of the reflecting pool, Washington Monument (and Capitol) from the Lincoln Memorial.

The house we are renting is old-ish and kinda crappy. This was even more apparent several weeks ago when during a particularly big storm the power went out (granted, no real fault of the house) and water started coming up from the ground and leaking in through the living room floor (which thankfully is tiled). At the time I mopped it fairly frequently and it was fine the next day.

Unfortunately this was repeated again on Monday evening, when a huge and deadly thunderstorm hit Houston. It started Monday afternoon and, what do you know, we lost power for a few hours. It came back on and there were no water leaks though, so we went to bed. About 3am it started up ferociously, hardcore thunder and lightning that I haven’t seen for a long time, and sooooooo much rain. We woke up from the noise and the lightning, and went to check on the leak situtation. Not good. Water was again coming through the floor in the living room, and this time much more faster. We also had water coming up through the floor in the kitchen pantry and into the kitchen, as well as a dripping coming in from the bedroom door that leads to the outside, ie right on to the bedroom carpet.

The water in the living room was really starting to come in though. Dan started to mop it but, lo and behold, the power went off yet again (about 3.30am). We had a torch but there really wasn’t much point trying to keep mopping, so Dan and I moved all of the furniture out of the room (including our newly arrived treadmill which Dan had only just assembled several hours before!). And put a bucket under the drip in the bedroom. In the morning we were greeted with a living room covered with 1-2 inches of water. So thankful we moved all of the stuff. We obviously both did not work on Tuesday. We called the landlord, who was going to send someone over. The power came back on at about 11am. At about 3pm the landlord and some guys came around and wetvacc-ed up all the water. During this time I also discovered that water had seeped into our bedroom via the floor or lower wall right next to our bed, so the bed base and mattress were partly damp. Gross. Our neighbour was having the exact same problem as us, except they had carpet in the living room   They said there was much more rain this time than during Ike. It was not a good day, but thankful it was not worse.

So we decided to try putting the dogs in another kennel for a weekend. I have been determined to get them used to staying somewhere without us, because I am not putting all my future travel plans on hold due to not having a dogsitter. So last weekend we dropped them off on Friday and picked them up on Sunday. We didn’t actually go out of town, and it was so wierd being at home without dogs again. I was somewhat worried. I made Dan call the place up on Saturday to see how they were going. When they said everything was going great and they were having a wonderful time I was sure they had the wrong dogs. But, come Sunday when we picked them up, they seemed happy as larry and got rave reviews. Everyone loved them, thought they were well behaved, and they were even described as ‘cutie-pa-tooties’ on their report card. Amazing! And such a relief

OK, wow, being a lazy blogger again…. So 3 1/2 weeks ago I had my last day at my volunteer job. Unfortunately it just wasn’t working out for me, and to be honest I have never worked with a bunch of more insane people. The things that went on, and the batshit crazy people I dealt with, I swear I couldn’t make half the stuff up. I did make a few normal friends though, but apart from that no regrets!

Thankfully I actually had a job to go to – an actual real paying job (only a few weeks after getting my ssn!). However it really wasn’t (isn’t) far to go to. No getting up super early, no commuting, no working on anyone else’s schedule. I have been working from home. Doing work for a company that, as some of you may know, Dan and I both used to work for. And hey, it’s not the most exciting work in the world, but I get to work when I want, wearing whatever I want, delaing with anything that needs to be done at home, and I actually get checks with my name on it!   So it is okay for now, and we shall see what happens.

Week 14 – the last good book I read

Life Doesn’t Frighten Me – Maya Angelou

I actually haven’t read much lately. This was the last book that I did read, and even though it is a kid’s book (and about 10 pages ), it really is a great book! Maya’s poem is amazing and I truly enjoy reading it, and the illustrations are fantastic. I know some people think it is abit too dark for children, but I will certainly be reading it to my kids one day.

Week 13 – my worst hairstyle experience to date

Circa Sept 2003, the cropped cut which I also decided to dye a murky red. Not one of my best looks….. I’m going to put it down as a quirky phase….

Week 12 – what am I grateful for right now?

Awwwwww, just a lucky moment. This will be the opposite tomorrow.

Week 11 – what keeps me awake at night?

Nothing deep and meaningful here, just a general lack of self-control usually

Week 10 – 5 movies that inspire me creatively.

Well I don’t tend to get too creatively inspired by movies, so I changed it to 5 websites that inspire me creatively. Craftzine, Etsy and Instructables are all pretty self-explanatory. Outre Gallery is my favourite art gallery in Melbourne, which sells pieces from one of my fave artists Shag. And Sew Crafty Houston is the great craft studio here where I took my sewing class, and where I will be taking a Gocco class tomorrow night.