What is the world coming to when the picture on the left is the 'fat one' ( i would KILL to look like this) and the one on the left is the 'after' who looks like a starved 10 year old.





damn advertising - who says the media don't perpetuate the wrong image?????

My beloved old cat Romeo passed away last night. I got her in February 1992 the day my other cat Bubbles died (she got bitten by a dog, and died of complications in surgery - she was 2).

At the vet there was this tiny little grey fluffy kitten in a huge cage with a note on top saying "Please take me home". I took home the little 5 week old kitten and my late Bubbles who we buried under a pink flowered bush in the front yard. I was totally distraught at losing Bubbles and this wee ball of fluff helped alleviate my grief.

The had vet assured us the kitten was a boy...we had to pay the neutering fee then and there to take the kitten to guarantee we would get it fixed...we were told that the mother cat had been hit by a car and the kitten was found in the middle of the road next to her unhurt by a passing motorist.

Later the first night I couldn't find her; she had climbed up the curtain and was walking along the rail - 6 feet up!!!!

Romeo was given her name because she wouldn't come out of hiding. I did the whole "Romeo, Romeo where for art thou"? THEN she came out....lol. It was when we went to get her neutered that they discovered Romeo was female, but she already answered to the name so I didn't see the point in changing it.  I just had to pay an extra $20 to get her speyed!!!

I felt bad for spending time away from her - when she was less than a year old I went to live at Mt Cook for 6 months, later on I moved onto a different flat and she went to live out at Waikuku with Mum. She has lived with her ever since. Which was handy when I went to live overseas  - but when I came back for a holiday and then for good she knew who I was, even though she sulked a bit at first. She always purred madly when I picked her up and patted her, and never really allowed many other people to do that!.

When Mum moved back into town 4 years ago, Romy came too. She used to follow Mum out to the letterbox, the clothesline, and around the garden like clockwork, and regularly hid behind the garage when my neices came to visit.  She wasn't much of a fighter, more an inviter in of other cats to share her food!

In the last few years she developed arthritis in her shoulder which looked painful especially in winter and when it rained. We were contemplating getting her an electric blanket to sleep on, and I was going to clip her nails this weekend - I am the only one who can do this!

Instead she had what Mum described as a stroke last night, just on 6pm, followed shortly after by a heart attack. They had curled her up in her box with her blanket and then she just stopped breathing.  Not a bad way to go I guess, Mum didn't seem to think she had experienced any pain.

I went to see her today ( I was off sick with a sore throat etc) all curled up - she just looked like she was asleep. I half expected her to move! Mum had dug a hole but when we went out to get it all ready for her burial it had filled up with water! We are hoping the water will drain overnight, then Mum and Rose (my neice who spends Fridays at Mum's) will hold a funeral for her tomorrow.

So here she is, the only photo that I could find here, although I have like an album full of her, they were taken before digital cameras!

Romeo  January 1992 - August 2008

Furious. Angry. Mad as hell. Is it election time yet? Can we vote on this? Where are our priorities? How mad is this world right now???


The Government can justify building a new stadium for the Rugby World
Cup, but can't fund this??
Herceptin is not a miracle cure for breast cancer, but it is a drug
which if it is used in the early stages of some breast cancer, is a
cure. It should be readily available to those who need it. I am not sure
where to start, that we can get a lot of women to sign a petition to go
to Parliament, in support of the women who need this drug. So I am
starting here, and when we have enough names on this email, it can be
forwarded to Parliament, and let us hope it makes a difference to those
women who Need our support.

If you see this petition, please sign it, or write your MP's - lots are on Facebook !!!

If it was a prostrate cancer drug for men, there would be no debate. It would be funded. That's a fullstop btw.

No this rant is NOT over

wanna come?


petrol is down to 2.0299 per litre...just thought i should mention that. now that we are surrounded by water and can't go anywhere.

that is all

How exciting! Yesterday it was 17 degrees (celcius for those of you nth worlders) which is lovely and warm for June/Winter and today started warm and sunny too! Then it packed up at midday and snowed!!!!!

So here is a pxt of the snow in my backyard...ok its not so clear but you get the idea!



Sputnik is curled up next to the heater, and am snuggled up with my faux mink blanky drinking hot milo with baileys (hmmm hmmm) to keep warm.

Bf is off for dinner with a mate. He won a work poker event last night - yes i went, as partners were 'expected' and had to talk to the boss! Which was funny, and i told him i could say what i wanted now cos he can't fire me! Everyone laughed but him! Ha! Was only kidding, wouldn't say or do anything untoward! Lol, and he was first to be out which was hilarious! Nice to see his lovely wife there tho, and others who brought partners that I hadn't met before. There were a couple of people i haven't the time for also, but I am not the type of person to ignore of not talk to them! It was nice to see another couple (who both work but are usually quite sedate) being couply!  And it was nice to snuggle up with Bf and give into his PDOA a bit...

Went to see Sex and the City on thursday with a group of girlfriends - I loved it! I thought I would, but was so happy with how it played out and the shoes the clothes the handbags the oneliners the friendships the relationships the pets and mostly happy with the ending!

A definite chick only flick...please keep the men at home! lol

so there i was on the number 17 bus tonight in the rain and wind and it made a few gurgling noises and then promptly...died. ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

BUT

it was only metres from my bus stop so i just got off and went home! all the other suckers had to wait for another bus to come along....they are only about 4 minutes apart...ha!

so i discovered today i can catch the 15 or 17 and it stops 5 minutes from work (smiths city) and at the end of my street too. And petrol went up again today to $2 a litre!

am finding out lots of things at work about the people i work with, mostly about the one who makes trouble. they all seemed so nice to start with as if there were no problems at all! i hate that i know this now as it taints how i feel about her and i don't want it to affect how i relate to her. even if she has already scape goated me.

sigh.

what keeps me going is having lunches with friends and the daily hundreds of emails from friends in a big long chain ( i kid you not, we can't talk as only 2 work together, so this is what we do...so funny).

and my bf who keeps me warm at night....awwwww shucks.

right, dinner much? anyone got any good ideas for tea?

camping in Kaikoura!!!! w00t!!!! but man am i happy to have my bed back!!! ouch the ground was hard...

have a secret and can't tell. but its a good'n.

that is all. as you were. nothing to see here. move along please!

Okay so the deal is to list 3 things you would buy with your last $20 - one practical, one frivolous, one just because.....

So,

1. Practical - I would NEED a wine, its my last $20!!


2.Frivolous - a toy for Sputnik

3. Just because...Chicago Cubs Mr Potato Head

Yay!

They finally called me today and offered me the job - a few grand more and much better perks and closer to home instead of the 13 km each way trek in truck traffic, not having to sit in a sterile environement where people are afraid to speak their minds and are disrespected and treated like small helpless children and worse that some act like they are and seem to enjoy it!

Its true that the best people do get out, although some are still stuck and scared, but they need to leave also. And soon! Especially the three I am thinking of - and two other friends will go on maternity leave soon, one other may work from home.

There is life out there, there are other better jobs!!  This new job was the first I applied for and its all mine!

lol

Sigh, its not just the job, its that I feel valued and someone else also sees that I have what they want - major esteem boost!

I felt really bad handing my notice into my Team Leader of only 2 weeks, but she said straight away that she was happy for me, and will work at getting me out before a month; my start date for the new job is March 17.

So the new job - the Contact Centre at the Polytech in a very small team - 9 of us - part of student services. So we are a section of Registry really, and the first point of contact for many future students.

I am really quite excited, to work in a small team but also somewhere with so many possibilities.

so once again, Yay!

And for Valentines Day I got chocolates at work and my physio lady gave me an intensive neck massage! hahaaha

What a dousing, not sure if this is enough to keep the drought at bay but its a start!

I have my interview today. Slept well remarkably, broken but deep and enough hours, since I didn't have to get up at 6.30 as usual. Only did up my CV last night, its truly pitiful. It greatly annoys me that former employees don't provide written references any more. Or is it that I am out of date and no one has hard copy CV's?

Slight problem is that I can't remember the time. I wrote two down - 11am and 1pm as I was going to make an appointment for something else too! EEk!

In other notes - on Facebook (like Band Camp but er not) I have caught up with more now grown up classmates from primary school! Funny how they are almost ALL married...just a comment.

Anyway, off to get ready.

Will keep you all posted. 

Or not, lol i just got hold of them, interview not until 1pm. yawn, back to bed. ZZZzzzzzzzzz

So some of the jobbies i applied for were quite crap - rotating shifts, smellycom, less pay than what I am on now etc..but the description doesn't say that!!!!

I have one interview week after next and this is the one i want...can't say too much cos cyberspace has big ears...not just for where it is but for what it could possibly lead to, that is adult education. I could become a lecturer! Ok, so further training would be required, but putting my teaching diploma to better use than a call centre would be great!

In other news, went to see a production of 'The Producers' last night at the Court Theatre, and other than half of them being relatively fresh out of NASDA (National Academy of Singing Dancing and Acting) it was really good! There were two in the cast who were in their 40's/50's (a guess!) and the rest 20's, but the show would not have been any better if it had been on Broadway - I highly recommend it! Very camp, in keeping with Mel Brooks and is lovely fascination with the Nazi's also. If you have ever seen Top Secret (Val Kilmer) it had many elements of that movie in the play.

A hilarious evening anyway.

Went home and straight to bed though on account of being totally and utterly shattered...

Speaking of shattered, thanks zephyrine for this cartoon:

Now am doing domestics, sewing curtains for Marmee, and awaiting the imminent arrival of AnnafromSydney to come play with Sputnik, if we can get her down from the tree...20 feet up. sigh

Such an exciting life i lead.

Ooh OOh OOOHHHH but the Smashing Pumpkins are coming!!!!! I won't eat for two weeks if it means i can go! Saw them yonks ago and they totally rocked ! Must have been at T-coll?? Late '90s?

and all i have to say is roll on the job interviews and if anyone is gonna write about some hot guy that was in some great flicks and just flaming well died and NOT get their facts straight - KARMA will get you, and she can be real mean...!

oooooh it gets my goat....

had performance reviews at work, we were supposed to gang together if we didn't all get the same category, but somehow that fell over. I can understand how everyone watches out for themselves...but this is sucky.

I am on the hunt for work elsewhere, done my dash with the place...bout time me thinks?? hehehehe

in other news, laptop got fixed - as you can see - the problem was that the disc drive was faulty. yup, took a wee trip up to Auckland and some techs there came back with 'faulty'??

idiots!

and only 2 sleeps left til Bon Jovi!!!! I WILL be buying a tshirt...

Most noble Sir Ed. You will be missed!

Sputnik is sleeping off yet another visit to the vet - pet insurance is starting to sound good!!! This time she is a bit fluey and has a scratched chin...she looks like she slid down a wall!!!!! sigh. They gave her some antibiotics and her vaccinations just in case and i have to clean her wounds off with iodine twice a day...she is a rascal!



Went to see friends who have a gorgeous 5 week old baby - big brother is nearly 2 and fell asleep in his high chair...been a while since i have held a baby that small! funny that most of my friends who had their first baby in the last 2 years or so are now having their second, not much for age gaps! Just looks like a lot of hard work that close together...

So yes i had a great christmas and new years - had Gabby and her friend Jill over for tea, i made chicken korma from scratch, except for raising the chickens and growing the ingredients!!! We had a few drinkies then went to the lamest party ever at a flat in Madra St - it was hilarious! Nice people, shame about the...nevermind. Had the countdown at Mickey Finns with a whole lotta bogans and had a good boogie though!!! Then moved onto His Lordships - cocktails and gossip! oooohh saw many drunk friends and workmates, funny being quite sober as we were, well not so sure bout Gabs!!! tee hee hee

On the whole folks in town were well behaved and even the cops were cheeky and relaxed! Nice to be home before the sun came up too!

Since then have been busy making new kitchen curtains for both my wee flat and mum's house, loads of gardening, catching up with an old tcoll buddy home for the holidays from Germany and yes seeing my truckloads of friends with their truckloads of babies!!!

oh and feeding several peeps pets and pilfering from their cd and dvd collections...thanks for that!!

So maybe see you for a few beers at the Dux at 2pm on Sunday??

:-)
FOOTNOTE - TO WHOMEVER HAS MY RADIOHEAD 'THE BENDS' CD - FLAMING WELL GIVE IT BACK!!!!!

thanks for watching

will be a hell of a lot better than 2007 was - cos it SUCKED.

all the health, heart and head dramas and healing from them and recovering from almost total financial disaster (slight exaggeration, but am prone to that) and the endless stresses of work and the realisation that  yes I am alone yet again at Christmas/New Years sigh woe is me etc etc.

BUT, have a close friend who is EXACTLY where I was now 9 years ago - just graduated, in a weird distant relationship and options are so many that you don't know where to start for your head spinning. I am SO glad I am NOT there. I am so happy to have travelled as extensively as I have and like knowing that there are many stones yet to turn and adventures overseas to have - in the future...I am happy to know that I have lived and worked successfully in another country and made many friends for life and returned with maturity and experience and in the knowledge that we have it so good here in lil ole Aotearoa.

I am happy that my health is nearly recovered and I am at least a damn sight better now than I was this time last year (yay Mirena!!).
I am happy that I have shitforbrains out of my system with the help of my friends and a lovely young ahem bloke who shall currently remain nameless ( STOP laughing ms red and darth).

I am happy and settled in my flat even with the idiot upstairs who is in for one hell of a shock tonight cos the music will be up til late since me and some friends are having drinks before we go out - bite me.

I love having my wee kitty cat Sputnik with me; she makes me laugh and keeps me sane.

This year - not being into resolutions - I have things to look forward to:

Bon Jovi later in January
pay review - which will either make or break my job search decision
continued and better health
improvement in finances!!! weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Anna and Jason's wedding in Sydney in October
and the possibilities of fun with friends whom I have just caught up with or discovered friendships with or am continuing friendships with and even 'other' types of relationships heheheh.

So to all of you down and out or had enough - don't despair, life DOES turn around and you get to a place where you are ready to tackle it all again, head on, taking new risks and learned, wise in the knowledge that if the bastard says he has unresolved feelings for someone else you FUCKING RUN like the wind and leave him to certain ruin and despair without dragging you down with it!!

Now that you are all entertained and/or totally bummed out, go have a drink or 10, DON"T drink and drive cos that's just dumb, and have a really happy new years eve....

Nearly!!!!

almost all done with the shopping...just the old man and a few yummies to get. Have some visitors this weekend to swap pressies and catch up which will be nice. AM feeling bad that HAVEN'T caught up with lots of very nice deserving lovely people cos have been sick/stressed/insomnia/busy with other crap and have not made the time or wanted to be shellfish and have ME time since others (work, family) have demanded so much of me.

NO THIS IS NOT A NEW YEARS RESOLUTION I don't do those, I do reflect and often at xmas time.

I WILL make more of an effort, and i say this all the time i know, but WHEN other things calm down.

Mostly I wanted to say;

Merry Christmas and a Safe New Year!!!!

but please DON"T drink and drive, catch a lift or taxi or walk...life is too precious.

And here is a message from Izzy (my birthmother's cat) who has had her fill of christmas decorations:

have had on average 4 hours sleep per night for the last 3 weeks.
still have residual infectious colitis that doc thinks is becoming a reflux.
work sucks.
debt sucks.
being single sucks.
my friends being dumped on by their family sucks.
having tennis elbow because i am 'old' sucks.
having mouldy bread sandwiches for lunch sucks.
buying expensive sunglasses that don't reduce the glare sucks.
sewing up my jeans in the wrong thread sucks.

pity party's suck too, but its my party and i'll cry if i want to.

going to bed. am sure will feel better tomorrow. depending on if i get some more sleep.

thoughts to darth and ms red.



cats don't suck cos they purr and are awesome.