Sunday 31 July 2011

Look who's been busy!

I've had a semi busy past couple of days.

Thursday- lunch with the family. My cousins who I very rarely see as they have jobs overseas were back in the country. We ate so much food! Both guys have huge appetites and ordered practically everything on the menu. I had to have a nap when we got home in order to try and digest all that food but when I woke up, I felt like I had a hangover. A food hangover, I guess.

Friday- worked at the vet specialist.

Saturday- struggled to finish my stupid assignment. It wouldn't send as an attachment and I was freaking out. But it was just my computer being lame on me. I really need to get a new one. Thank goodness I managed to sort it all out eventually and send it off. Then mum and I went to see Captain America. SO good! She didn't want to see it but I think she enjoyed it even more than me! She's such a closet sci-fi fan!! Really fun movie, just the right amount of cheese and action. And then right at the end of the movie after the credits, they had a trailer for the second Avengers movie. I can't wait! Shame it's coming out next year.

Sunday- went back to home after staying at mum's. Had just settled in for a quiet afternoon read when my roomies arrived home and were about to head straight out again to KMart. At the last second I decided to go with them and then we proceeded to buy up the entire store! But we brought some fun stuff for my room.

This is how we get stuff done. Girl roomie was deciphering how everything went and boy roomie followed the instructions. I supervised with my glass of wine :)

And this is the finished product!
I love it so much!! And then I also brought a photo/painting for my room as well, which they hung for me too.
I love it so much! It's New York (obviously) and has posters for both 'Phantom' AND 'Wicked'! I seriously had the best time when I went there, I'm scared to go back because I don't know if it will live up to my memories of it.

Hope you all had a brilliant weekend!

Project 52: eight

Sunday afternoon, assignment has been handed in and I'm taking a breather before Monday morning rolls around and school and assignments are back in session.

I'm sitting in the sun, I've got my book, I've got my glass of wine, I've got my, I mean roomie's, dog, I've got my bag of chips. I'm set.

Saturday 30 July 2011

In which I am possibly the worst vet nurse ever

Seriously, lock up your pets!! Haha, ok well I didn't kill anything so maybe not the worst vet nurse ever but probably top ten at least.

I went and worked at a vet specialist centre on Friday. Way more jam packed than my night in the Vet ER clinic. Which is why it was worse that I was terrible because we were busy!

Number 1) My first task I was given was to take this dog's temperature. I couldn't find the uh, entrance that the thermometer goes into. Well, I stuck it in somewhere and got a very low reading, which means I must have just pushed it into a clump of hair and thought I was in. Oh dear, failing Vet Nursing 101!!!

Number 2) After that failure, I was told to take the heart rate... and I couldn't find the heart with my stethoscope. I maintain the dog was a zombie but I think I was in the minority.

Number 3) I was told to take a blind dog for a walk. This dog was awesome and super agile so you wouldn't even know that it was blind. It used its nose to figure out where it was going on the way outside, walking ably by my side and I kind of forgot that it was blind... and I wasn't keeping an eye on it properly and I turned the corner and he walked it smack into a wall! We weren't walking too fast so he didn't hurt himself and he must have sensed that I was turning because he'd started turning himself. But that does not excuse the fact that I let a poor blind dog walk into a wall. I apologised profusely and he wagged his tail and licked my cheek (like we were in a movie and he totally understood what I said), so I think my apology was accepted.

Number 4) I had my first 'I'm gonna faint' moment. First in my life actually. We were kind of doing a gross thing (draining a chest) but I don't think that's what got me, as I've seen worse. It was really hot and stuffy in the teeny tiny room and there were way too many people in there. I was going to try and push through it but then I got *really* light headed and wanted to vomit and collapse all at the same time. So I just blurted out "I'm not feeling well" and ran to the bathroom. It took me AGES to get over it too, I couldn't stop shaking. They sent me outside to get some air and as luck would have it, it was our first warm day after winter so that didn't really help at all! Everyone was really sweet about it afterwards and helping me not to feel bad about it... but I still felt bad about it. And they fed me chocolate to make me feel better... I might start faking it if I get chocolate afterwards! And then I went and watched icky eye surgery and felt fine :)

And now I'm dragging my mum to Captain America. I'm so excited about this movie. I know absolutely nothing about the superhero but the movie visually looks fun and the ads make it sound cheesy. I can't wait. I love my mum for being willing enoughto be dragged along to the movies!

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Day 26: Getting My French Braid On!

I feel like this hairstyle would have been cute on an 8 year old version of me. Shame I am more than triple that age!!! Never mind. I was so excited that I actually *did* this. This was my second ever attempt at french braiding and it looks pretty darn good!

In my awesomeness, I missed a teeny bit of hair (not that you can notice in the pictures) so I curled it and pretended it was all part of the plan. This challenge, if nothing else, has taught me to embrace my mistakes!


Also, please take note of my CENTRE parting. I spent a lot of time making sure that my parting was in the centre, got it there, but somehow whilst doing the braiding, my parting moved a couple of inches to the left!! Sorry for the flash-arama photo!

In the real world, I am feeling SO much better!! Not sure if it's because the sun is shining and I can feel winter losing its grip or because I went to the doctor and got some magic pills and great tools to deal with stress and anxiety or because I'm spending more time with God or maybe it's because my hairstyle's youthful optimism is rubbing off on me. Lots of options... I think it's a combination of them all.

And as promised Abigail... here are my Night's Watch boots! I lovingly stole them from my mother when I went to Canada. I didn't think she would need wool lined boots whilst in Australia. Although I am getting tons of use out of them now I'm back in Australia!!


And here is their more attractive cousin on TV :) Also, please note Professor Snape in the background... I feel like it all makes sense, maybe he spends the summer holidays at The Wall? He would totes fit in, wearing black and all!

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Day 25: Side Ponytail Combo

I swear it seems like I'm starting my posts the same way recently! I again would like to thank Cute Girls Hairstyles for their inspiration for this post.


This really is a super cute look. I did fumble it up a bit and to make matters worse, I took the worst photos in the world to document it all :)

I think in the photo on the left I had my hand half covering the flash... and the one on the right was so awful that even in black and white it still looks bad!















It's really starting to get close to the end of my hair challenge, which means SHORT HAIR IS LOOMING!!!! I'm trying to look into other options for my hair as I've heard some things about Locks of Love who I was originally going to donate my hair too. They do perform a great service but I've just heard a few things about their ethics. I have found a little Australian charity that does the same thing but they want REALLY long hair, I'd probably have to shave my entire head! Oh well, it's not like I have to cut my hair off right this very second. I did say September originally, maybe my hair will be long enough then. OR I could chop it all off to celebrate finishing my vet nurse course. Um... and now I will stop thinking aloud :)

Abigail- I'll do a little post on my Night's Watch boots. I want to find a screencap of the boots on the show... but they really don't show a lot of shots of their feet. Seriously, I get that acting is all about facial expressions but would it kill the camera to pan to their feet once in a while?! I'll go through the episodes on my computer and try and get a good picture.

Monday 25 July 2011

Day 24: Waterfall Braid

This is the style that I saw really early on in my research for hairstyles for this challenge and I never thought I'd be 'professional' enough to master it. You know what? My first attempt wasn't too shabby!

I got the style from Cute Girls Hairstyles which is seriously my go-to site for hairstyles, even though I am not of 'cute girl' age :) However, the picture I chose to go with this post is from a new blog that I discovered called Sea Creatures and I couldn't resist purely because there is a puppy in the picture!!

And here is my attempt. This was my very first attempt and I actually wanted to try it again but then I was afraid that any other attempt wouldn't be as good, so I left it as is! I'll stick with beginner's luck!
You can't really see the 'waterfall-y' bits in my hair but trust me, they're there. I also didn't go as far back as I should have. I did the other side too and then brought both braids to meet in the back. I can't wait to try again.

I wore my coat that makes me feel like I'm off on a quest, Lord of the Rings style, and my boots that I saw someone from the Night's Watch wear in Game of Thrones. I had my hair done like a noblewoman. I was in my own little fantasy novel as I walked to school, I felt like a badass maiden. I feel like every day should start like that!

Project 52: seven

I love my job. There I said it. I never, ever thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever be able to utter that phrase with a straight face and an honest heart.

You get to cradle life in your hands, whether you are holding them one last time and easing the pain or patching them up so they can go on to bright new adventures.

It's such a privilege and whilst I am basically a poorly paid cleaner with a cool uniform, I hope I never lose this wonder and love that I have.

Saturday 23 July 2011

My guest starring role on 'Vet E.R.'

I did a night shift working at my local animal emergency centre. In my head, it was going to be emergency surgeries performed in the nick of time with blood spurting everywhere and trolleys bursting through swing doors with unconscious animals on them with vets kneeling on top of the trolleys performing CPR. Therefore I was absolutely terrified. Luckily for me, it was more 'Scrubs' than 'ER'.

It was about an hour and a half before anyone even came in so we spent the time tending to the ICU patients who were all in very stable conditions. All the vets and nurses were really welcoming to me and we chatted away. They were also great at explaining what they were doing to the animals and why. They had so much fancy equipment, it was a real eye opener seeing what other clinics have, compared to my quiet little clinic.

We had a very sad case when someone brought in a five day old puppy to be euthanised. She had really tried to keep this little one alive but it wasn't responding to any treatments and it was decided that it would be kinder to put it to sleep instead of letting it struggle on, possibly in pain. In my eyes, it didn't look too bad, it was very responsive- but then we found out that it was three times smaller than its litter mates and that really put it into perspective how much this little one was struggling.

This is NOT a picture of the puppies or even the right breed, this is just a cute picture so you can get an idea of the size. And to break up this giant block of text!
While the vet spoke to the owner in a consult room, I was given the task of cuddling the puppy to keep it warm and calm. It was honestly one of the saddest things I've ever done. To hold this warm little bundle to my chest and feel it breathing and squirming- very much alive and knowing that there was nothing that could be done to help it and that the right thing to do was to put it to sleep. And then to hold it for the vet in the palm of my hand and feel the life slip out of it. It makes me cry just thinking about it.

But onto happier things! We had a gorgeous girl come in who became 'my' patient. She had unfortunately found a packet of rat bait and had merrily consumed it all. Incredibly, the owners discovered that she had done this almost as soon as it had happened and drove her straight to the hospital. She wasn't suffering any side effects and was given an injection to make her vomit it back up. And vomit it up she did!
And the fun thing about this poison is that it comes back up a bright FLUORESCENT green colour!! It was the nastiest thing I'd ever seen!!! She was a very timid thing and kind of clung to me so I got the job of staying with her and making sure she was ok. She went home soon after so that was a job well done!

Next week I will be working with a vet specialist so I will see lots of weird and wonderful things. At this stage in my 'career', I like working in a small clinic where you know the animals and their owners. I feel like it's a good, safe place to grow as a vet nurse. Maybe later on, I might like to work in an emergency centre and I'm glad I've had a little taste of that life now.

Wednesday 20 July 2011

Day 23: Slide Up Braid

It seems like mums always come to the rescue. Even if it's not my own mother. The mum who runs Cute Girl Hairstyles once again saved me. I mean, she sorta got me into trouble in the first place so it's really only fair that she should save me! I was trying to do a super fancy braid (and finish my entire booklet for class at the same time...) and it just wasn't working. It's a style that I have been hankering to do but I just don't have the skills/time. BUT it will appear on this site hopefully sooner rather than later.

Instead I found another one to try and once you see it, you'll see exactly why I was taken with it. Look how cute and perfect it is and you can find out exactly how to do it right here.

The real deal is a lot better than my stumpy attempt :) But my attempt makes me smile, so it's all good!
My version just looks like a braid gone wrong. I don't think the style is meant to be for a giant side braid like I did it. On the website, they'd done just a single much smaller braid... I think that'll be the way to go next time. And whilst trying to find pictures for this site, I found another braiding website!!!!!!!! I think I'm going to go out in a BRAID of glory... geddit... like BLAZE of glory?!?!? Yep, I'm pretty funny.

Not sure when my next post will be, as I'm pretty busy with work and will be doing family stuff dis weekend. On Friday night I will be working at the Animal Emergency Centre from 6pm til midnight. I'm actually really, really nervous! Surprise, surprise!! But also excited because I will have lots of cool stories and will get to see lots of cool things. I'm just worried about standing around like an awkward ninny and getting in the way whilst everyone is rushing around saving lives. But everyone's gotta start somewhere, right?!

Hope everyone has a story worth weekend. (Anyone else listen to The Moth? If not, it's a great podcast and definitely you should check it out!)

Tuesday 19 July 2011

Day 22: Hair Clip Time :)

This is how I intended to do my hair. I did it, took a photo and then toddled off to make breakfast and by the time I reached the kitchen, my hair had tumbled out of the hair clip!

So I redid it and on a side note, this is the face back of a head of someone who passed their Pathology test. HUZZAH!!! (Sorry boy roomie... I know you hate that phrase!)

Thanks to everyone for all their lovely support re: my freakout over EVERYTHING in the world. Sometimes I get quite emo. I apologise and I promise to bring rainbows and puppies to the next few blog posts.

And thanks for the hair suggestions... I look forward to trying them out. Katie, I'm planning a twist on an old schoolyard classic and Sarah, you said that hair tutorial was easy! Dude, that looks hard, I'm not too good at french braiding but I shall give it a go!

My teacher told us a terrible dad joke which made me giggle so much I made *him* laugh! And we'll leave it on that note.

Why are pirates so angry?
Because they ARRRGGGGGGHH!!!

Monday 18 July 2011

Day 21: Inside Out Ponytail

Now in *my* day, this was a very cool primary school hairstyle. I haven't seen anyone wear this probably SINCE my primary school days but it looks so pretty and is such a great twist on a regular ponytail if you want to jazz it up a bit.
Also in my day, I swear this hairstyle used to be called something else, it was like French... something. Can anyone remember? In this picture I am wearing my 'Robin Hood' outfit. And I am doing this weird awkward pose to make sure all my head fits into the frame. Sort of the Hunchback of Notre Dame meets the Merry Men.

Does anyone have any hairstyles that they think I should try before this challenge is over? We've got two more weeks to go.

It's my big fat Pathology test tomorrow. Ugh. I actually have a headache (I think it's stress induced) and my body keeps going into panic attack mode. I don't know why my body likes to do this to me, I'm honestly not that stressed about the test (even though I probably should be!). I'm making an executive decision and am heading to bed with a good book. I figure I'll get up early tomorrow and read over my study notes.

Sunday 17 July 2011

Project 52: six



Overwhelmed.
I have a crushing feeling in my chest and a panic in my head.

I just have to remember to stop, breathe and think.

I can do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday 15 July 2011

Phew, glad that's over

Work is over and done with for the week. It was really tough and I only work for two days out of the seven!

Yesterday- I just wasn't on top of my game and the more I kept slipping, the worse I got. You know how sometimes you make a mistake and you just let it roll off your back, you pick yourself up and move on? That was not how it went with me yesterday. I could feel all my mistakes just weighing me down and it just got worse and worse. I was definitely ready for the day to be over.

Today- I still had lost a lot of confidence after yesterday so today wasn't great either. I just made so many rookie mistakes and I just feel like maybe this isn't what I should be doing :( I feel like I keep making the same errors and not learning from them. I feel like I should be further along than I really am. And we had two euthanasias today and they made me feel like crying, even though I didn't really have anything to do with them.

Ugh!! I hope it will all look/feel better in the morning. It's just hard having two bad days in a row.

And because of the depressing nature of this post, let's find some nice photos to finish on.
This first picture made me giggle for quite some time when I found it and cheered me up no end!

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Day 20: Shove All Your Hair Into A Headband

Catchy title, no?

Wow, this morning was a disaster. I can't seem to get my act together after my holidays. No matter how early I get up, there isn't enough time to read my Bible and spend some time with God *and* do my hair nicely. And since I made commitments- I have to keep them. I'll try rolling the alarm clock back some more :(




















I confess that I didn't actually like this look to start off with! It felt really 'look at me, look at me' purely because my headband was very tight and kept reminding me that I was wearing my hair in this style. It actually looks a lot better in the photos than it did in my head! I think I must have been remembering it wrong! Also due to the fact that I was running late, I didn't have much time to play with it, or even redo it. I would have loved an extra five minutes in order to try again with it. AND then my camera kept turning itself off because it had no battery. Frustrating!!

And I felt a bit like I was wearing a maid headpiece, you know one of these things??
I think I've been watching too many period dramas recently!

But then the day looked up because as I walked out of my front gate, one of my friends from school was actually driving by and stopped to give me a lift. Awesome!!

I'd definitely try it again and it is a great way to keep hair out of your face. Looks hard, but is very simple. And I got lots of compliments on it. I'd like to try it with a different headband as this one kept slipping up which made my hair kind of clump upwards... ok, that didn't make sense so I'll just direct you here to Gentri's guestpost on the Sloanbook which is where I got the look from. And Gentri will give you help on how to do it, much better than I could! And if I am brave enough, I'd love to try the Lady Gaga 'bow' look!!

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Day 19: Herringbone/Fishtail Braid





I love this style of braiding! It looks super professional but is so, so easy to do.

And if you look somewhat carefully, you can see that I missed a giant chunk of hair into the braid. I am pretending that I am eccentric and whimsical :)






Second day back at school was so much better than the first day. Even though it was still information overload, it wasn't as daunting as yesterday. Today was tough because it was really cold and the teacher turned on the heater, which I sit directly under so it was basically like he wanted me to fall asleep in class. Then he was talking about how we all looked like we were falling asleep, he was like "I could do anything and you wouldn't notice" and then he waved our exam paper for next week under my nose AND I MISSED SEEING ANYTHING ON IT!!!!! Haha!!!

And I forgot to say, last week I got to help with my first pregnancy ultrasound! The mama looked like this, an absolutely gorgeous liver and white Border Collie. She had been mated but in my 'expert opinion', it didn't sound as if she was pregnant. Good thing I'm not the boss because mama had seven little pups inside!! I so hope I get to see more of her and that we get to follow her journey. I WANT TO SEE PUPPIES!!!!!!

Monday 11 July 2011

Day 18: Bun with Braids

First day back at school and my hair was going to be fierce. I was going to rock my braids. I was going to be Gwen Stefani, man!

Instead I ended up wearing white girl cornrow braids and they looked so icky that I would have taken them out, except for the fact that I was like "No, the internet has to have it's 30 Days of Hair via me". I couldn't let the internet down.
Yes, that's right. I wore terrible hair just for you guys. I have no idea what my bun was doing and it's probably just as well I didn't study the picture too closely before I left because I definitely would not have left the house! It kinda looks like a dorsal fin. Like I am Jaws or something.

In other news, I have decided what dog I would like. Due to my obsession with Game of Thrones, I have decided upon a direwolf.










The pic on the left is part of my favourite direwolf scene but the one on the right I think is the most striking one.

Due to the fact that they don't exist, I will have to placate myself with a Northern Inuit which is the breed of dog that plays the direwolves in the show. They seem to have great personalities and are smart as well.
















These photos are courtesy of the Northern Inuit Society website which I have spent far too long on today. Unfortunately these dogs aren't for sale in Australia... yet!! Probably just as well as I don't think I could really buy a dog, it would be too embarrassing after all my big talk about animal shelters :)

But it's nice to dream!

Sunday 10 July 2011

Medieval Festival (cue thousands of exclamation marks)

I literally don't know where to begin but be warned this will be long! So let's start at the very beginning.

This is what I wore (and by wore, I also include my hair!)




















And yes, that is an incredibly cheesy grin on my face! I was more than a bit excited. And then I felt odd because I didn't buy anything special to wear... I genuinely own and wear these clothes in my day to day life. Not in that combination, but it makes me wonder if my personal style is 'Medieval Peasant'? Not the most stylish of fashion concepts I think you'll agree!

It took a while to get there and we got stuck in traffic but we made a game out of it, peering into every car beside us to see if the occupants were dressed up. Thank goodness for our tinted windows! We only ended up seeing one or two people dressed up in their cars but it certainly made the time go quicker.

As we were walking in to buy our tickets, there was hardly anybody dressed up but once we were inside there were so many people all dressed up! It was BRILLIANT!!!!!! I wussed out and took zero photos of people because I am a scaredy cat. But my favourites were this guy with long red hair and beard who looked like he'd stepped off the set of 'Braveheart' in his Scottish warrior regalia. And this man in full on leather armour with a minotaur helmet on.

I think you can see one or two people dressed up, but I put this picture up so you can see what a gorgeous winter's day it was. Perfect clear blue sky, sun beating down on us and a crisp wind to stop things from being too hot.

Now, when me and my roomies get together, we usually indulge in our love of food. There was SO much food on offer- big hunks of meat, pies of every flavour and even a stall called The Vegetari Inn (say it aloud, it wins my award for best pun of the day). We went to a Spanish stall and they both got taster plates and I had chorizo and palenta. You'll have to take my word for it because we'd all nearly finished when I realised I should have taken photos. Well, it's not like I have a food blog. Throughout the day, we also had poffertjes and various other sweet things.

There was also a tavern which we stopped in and had some cider. And watched a gurning contest. Gurning is where people pull the ugliest face they can and the ugliest face wins. Roomies and I fell in love with a contestant called Ian who was middle aged and definitely not on his first cider of the day. When it was announced that he had come third in the contest, us and a random group of guys protested so hard that we 'changed history' and Ian came second!!

There was lots of swordfights throughout the day. Some were choreographed and some just involved a blunted sword, a shield and the attitude 'just go for it'!

















But I was really there for the jousting! We started off a 'boom-boom-clap' a la 'We Will Rock You' because since 'A Knight's Tale', I think that if you go and see jousting, it has to happen at least once. It was awesome when the whole crowd was going... but we had to stop as it scared the horses. The jousting was really good, I love seeing the horses and the outfits and nothing puts me more into a Medievaly state of mind.

There was some amazing craftsmanship on offer and if I was a billionaire I would have walked away with drinking horns, jugs shaped like dogs and about a dozen cloaks and other assorted outfits. Alas, I am not- so I contented myself with a dragon charm (see previous post) and a celtic cross necklace.

The day was so much fun and I can't wait for the next one. I might have to hit up ebay or etsy for an actual costume. I had severe costume envy going on.

Hope your weekends are just as fun. Thanks for all the support re: my failure as a monitor of animal health during operations :)

Project 52: five

When I was small, I adored dinosaurs.
When I was older, I discovered dragons.

My love for dinosaurs disappeared but my love for dragons remained.

I never liked the stories of dragons stealing maidens or being vanquished by dashing heroes because that's not what dragons did.
Surely everyone knows that dragons are shy and grumpy, wise and kind and above all, brave and noble. That they love nothing more than solving a good riddle and hate to hear a child crying.

I often feel like I'm the only one who knows that. Everyone else just sees dragons as bad and that's the end of the story. I've always wanted a dragon charm but hardly anyone sees them the way I do, which means that their dragons are menacing and evil looking.

Finally after about fifteen years of searching, I found my dragon charm. There's not a harsh bone in his body and to me, I can see a cheeky spark in him and the wisdom in his eyes.

It's silly but it's made me so happy that my search is finally over.

Friday 8 July 2011

Tomorrow, tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the Medieval Faire. I am too excited. Except for *sad face* Jess won't be coming because she is sick!!!!!!! We have been talking about this day for months and now she can't come because she is feeling sick. Poor thing, I don't know who is sadder out of the two of us! I will have to take lots of photos to make up for it, hope my camera is up to the challenge.

Because Jess was sick today, she wasn't at work so I had to be a big girl and work BY MYSELF! This meant that I had to prepare the theatre room for surgery, including the anaesthetic machine aka my arch nemesis, I had to admit the (one!) patient, take all her vitals and prepare her for surgery. Thank the Lord she was a six month old Maltese and cute to boot! Along with doing all my reception-y things as well.

Funny story, but not really. We were constantly changing up the anaesthetic dose of this pup during the surgery, her heart rate was going up and down, as was her breathing rate. Sometimes animals react funny under anaesthetic. I was therefore watching the heart monitors very closely and saw the heart rate drop slowly and then cut out completely. Again, my suspicions are confirmed that I am absolutely the worst person to have around in an emergency. I watched the monitor for about ten seconds in disbelief and then I said "There's no heart beat" to which the vet's head shot up from his work and he was like "WHAT?!?!?". And then I saw that the heart rate monitor had slipped off and that's why the heart rate wasn't registering. I don't think my boss was too impressed with me freaking him out over a little mistake I should have picked up straight away!

So yes, Medieval Faire. My trusty roomies are coming along for the ride. I hope I don't embarass myself by revealing how much of a true nerd I am. Although I think they do already know :)

Thursday 7 July 2011

Project 52: four

She is sitting in the sun, reading.
"She's almost a hundred" my father whispers as we make our way towards her.
I watch, fascinated. I have a teensy weensy obsession with those that reach that magical number.

She looks up as my father introduces us. She eyes me as keenly as I do her. She holds out a hand to me and I take it. She doesn't shake my hand like I expected her to, instead she merely holds it.

Her hand feels like the cliche of soft crepe paper and it feels nice. Her thumb rubs against the back of my hand and I wonder if she is marvelling at the texture of my hand, as I am hers.

I notice the book she is reading and it is one that I have read. I mention it and we chat about books. Is she young at heart or am I an old soul? I know the answer.

My dad says that we must go. She squeezes my hand once and relinquishes her hold.
We leave.
I wish I had stayed.

I'm baaaack!!!

I actually got back on Tuesday night but it's taken me until Thursday morning before I hit up blogger. And now I am daunted! I have a week and a bit of blogs to catch up on. But I'm going to do it!!! But first... I should probably see to my own blog.

I am exhausted. A week in New Zealand doing nothing is very tiring. When I go to NZ, it's never really a vacation, it's more like visiting relatives which is tough work. You've got to be on your game 24/7. Luckily those relatives were my dad and my grandparents so it wasn't too bad but still, it's nice to be home. And I ended up getting dragged on a picnic but they weren't as terrible as the ones I remembered from my childhood!!

I also return home, a broken hearted girl. My dog, Joey, now lives with my grandparents in NZ, which cuts a very long story short. It's been probably 3+ years since I've seen her and I was so excited. Joey on the other hand- not so much. She was pleased to see me and she remembered me and exclusively brought me her toys to play long games of 'fetch'... but her heart now belongs to my grandma. I may have shed a tear when Joey acted more excited about seeing my dad (who she'd seen that morning) than me when we first arrived. And then I pretended I was crying over seeing my Gran. I'm not proud of that fact.


Because I have a stupid camera I only took about four photos. And I completely forgot to take a photo of my friend and I when we met up in Auckland for the day :( But we had fun chatting and catching up.

I now have to blog my project 52 post. Hope you all had a good week, let me know if I missed anything exciting. Off to work this afternoon and not looking foward to it at all, I'm worried I will have forgotten everything!!