I've got a Golden Ticket...

Roz and I went to the RSL for a snack and a drink after work tonight and were pretty confused about quite a few things:

• Why did the Keno screen freeze on game 381 for like 15 minutes and no one noticed except me (clutching my ticket)? After a phone consultation with my friend C.Ro the Keno guru who advised a rebooting of the system (although I wasn’t feeling it that she really knew what she was talking about), I went and pointed out the frozen screen. He pressed a button to reboot the system and voila! Keno was back in business. As 15 minutes had passed though it was now up to game 393 so I had to go up to the counter again to get my ticket checked. Yeah it was a loser – I still can’t help feeling cheated though...missing all those games live.

• Why did the man who had ordered a meal, walk around looking confused when his meal pager things started beeping, vibrating and flashing?  He obviously knew where the counter was as he had placed his meal order there. He walked around holding the pager out like a divining rod trying to find his way to his wedges. Odd.

• Who was the man with the “Bookie” case taking bets and calling what seemed to be fake horse races from a script? People were going up, making a bet, and then he would read a horse race out while everyone cheered like they were watching a real race. He then confounded us even more by saying “come up and I’ll give you a free bet – it’s play money anyway”. Pardon? What? We still don’t get it. 

• Why did I put $4 into a Pokie machine that felt lucky (well there was a bird on it), manage to win my way up to around $30, but then walk out with nothing? What happened? Damn those bet 10 lines buttons. As Roz said it’s all about the highs and the lows.

• Who was the little man with the stick that came and tried to tell me how to play the Pokie machine (when I was doing quite well thank you very much)?

• Why do we keep telling each other “I’ve got a Golden Ticket!”

Dancing till your name badge falls off

Michelle wore a hat to work today.  It really threw me off.  I wasn't expecting it and I wasn't ready for it.  But it was there.  Being the sort of person who doesn't ever really say what's on her mind, I paused for 5 seconds and said "yeah, what's up with the hat?"  It was being used to hide an alleged bad hair day....I felt the hair was fine.  Anyway, here's the hat in question.

Later in the day we went to a Stress Management session (coincidence with the hat in the office - I think not?  Roz did actually tell Michelle during the session that the hat was stressing her out also).  Ahh there's nothing like a stress management session to make you stressed out about all the work you should be doing instead of sitting in a room learning how to deal with stress effectively.  We did learn all about walls and how to go around them, under them, over them.  Not how to break them down though which is a little unfortunate.  I also learnt that I'm not fat, I'm just thirsty.  Don't ask me how I came to that conclusion - something about being thirsty makes you store fat.  I may have misheard something along the way.  Yes it's because I'm thirsty, not because of the carton of Wispa Bars I just ate :-).

So we ended the day with a dance party in our office (long after everyone had gone home and long after we should have gone home).  We put on Kesha's Tic Tok, grabbed the hat (of course) and have 5 minutes of hard core dance times (Young Talent Time style).

We danced until my name badge fell off.  And then we knew it was finally time to go home.

10 photos from a phone

Roz and I were at lunch the other day and I was looking through my phone at all the random photos that were on there. So I thought I'd pick the first 10 and see why I thought that moment was interesting/funny/cute/momentous enough to have a photo taken on my phone.

1. This was taken a while ago (I was blonde!) at work in my old office. Ah the good old days. Anyway this is me and Bobby - I fell in love with Bobby and would love to have adopted him, but not sure my cats would have been quite so agreeable. Bobby had many talents including an evil laugh, saying "good boy Bobby" and "Boobies!" Bobby got adopted so I hope he is having a great time laughing evilly at his new owners. I heart you Bobby.



2. This was taken at Bubba Gump's restaurant in Honolulu. I was having lunch with Julie, Simon and Lola and this was some sort of fruity cocktail that was so scrummy. The other thing I remember about this lunch was the tower of onion rings. Mmmmm, onion rings.



3. This is mum having dinner with me before the Michael Buble concert at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. We had the best night and a great dinner. Can't wait for him to come back so we can see him perform again.



4. Ahhh, this photo goes with number 5. This was when I drove my brand new car into the undercover garage at home and hopped out to open my garage door. It was then I realised the car was still in drive and moving forward. Luckily this door stopped it and was damaged a lot more than my car. After potentially seeing a huge bill from a door repairman, I rang my brother and here comes photo number 5...

5. Rob is the master. He got the door open, fixed it and got it shut again. Nice work Robs!

6. Here's Roz holding a cute little dog. I think it might by Holly - the only screaming dog I have ever met. Really. She screams.

7. Here's Rob again with one of his patented "scary" faces. This was taken at Sizzler and he is making his gang sign "the snake"

8. Here's Roz again at work with a puppy. This time in a hat. I'm not sure who the puppy is, but it's very cute!

9. And here's Michelle at work, this time it's her turn to hold a cute puppy. Michelle was demonstrating how a summer shawl can be transformed into a puppy holder.

10. Last but not least, here is a pair of jeans that I wore to work one day and then realised around lunchtime they had a huge hole in a not so appropriate area. So I thought it would be fun to write all over them with my sharpie (love my sharpie!) and my new red glitter pen. I took this in the car on the way home during a traffic jam. I think they look pretty good - I'd buy a pair!

Peggy's Party

Today I was lucky enough to be invited to the birthday celebration of the year - Peggy is turning 10 years young. After being mislead by the GPS lady who clearly has no clue where she is going or what she is doing, we finally found the forest and the lake and the party house.

Here is the birthday girl making sure there are no gatecrashers trying to bust in on her par-tay:

It didn't take long before Sophie had one too many beers and passed out:

Well you don't see this very often - a photo that Minnie is in. Never usually happens, she is normally so shy of the camera. Note the sarcasm.

Peggy demands more presents, more food and less people in the area that she pees in:





I demonstrate how to wear party hats correctly - Peggy could learn a thing or two about party hat wearing.



Sophie swims in her sleep - she likes to breaststroke, but I'm sure she will be butterflying soon.



Sophie wakes up with a hangover and rests her head.





Peggy just really wants everyone to go so she can celebrate her birthday her way. Eating cheese balls:

Thanks for inviting me to your party Peggy, see you next year!

Learn your rules.....

Today I think I need to think of some things and people that made smile – some days it’s hard to keep the smile on your face, when you are not having the best time at work, but there are always things through the day that make it great:

• Seeing Fuzzball at her desk in the Ausco Shed– she won’t be working with us much longer so it’s so good to see her on the days she is here. The vollie team will not be the same without her!
  
• Listening to some old phone messages saved on my phone that cracked me up – especially one from the lady who wanted to be a volunteer “bugologist” (still trying to work that one out) and one from Michelle where she just said “Pouchie” and hung up.
  
• Roz coming down to visit me and having to sit on the couch to recover before she could make the trip back. Forced visiting times. Excellent.
  
• Michelle being back in the country.
  
• Talking about Survivor with Rickland, Roz, Clint and Chesty. Love Survivor. Suddenly all these closet fans are emerging and it’s great to be an out and proud Survivor fan.
  
• The yelling vase – a great Japanese invention that is used to yell your angry words into. I think we could all use one of them.

• Consuela googling “yelling into a peanut butter sandwich”. Ah Consuela, you is crazy.
  
• “Learn your rules, you’ve got to learn your rules. If you don't you'll be eaten in your sleep.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2rE_voavMo
  
• Another blog follower - thanks Libby (and your bump!)
  
• Kiki the little dog who hung out in my office for some of the day – love her.
  



• Rickland and Angela for looking after Kiki during her vet visit. I have found I am not good with impacted anything. Especially in that area.
  
• Briony for fostering Kiki and hopefully finding her forever home. :-)

• Thinking about moving to Melbourne and working at the Cat Protection Society. All cats. All day. All the time. Excellent.
  

Where's the guy with the moustache?

Just got back from the Stadium - it was the first game of the year and I spent the night hearing "where's the guy with the moustache? Apparently I was ushering on an aisle that the same guy (guessing with a moustache) had been doing every game for the whole season. By the end of it, I just said "I don't know. But I'm here. Deal with it".

Always meet lots of interesting (and insane) people while working at these games. Some of them want a chat, some of them ask you things about the game (which I'm not very helpful with) and some of them are just very drunk.

Tonight I was talking to a very nervous mum and dad whose son was Goalie - it was his first game. They were from Ayr and had just flown down for the game. When the team ran on I saw his mum standing up, waving frantically at him and shrieking his name. Then I met a father whose son was also playing. The dad had a big badge on with his sons face and number and he said to me "I'm just so proud". Then he told me how much his son was earning each season. I see why he is proud. And looking forward to being taken care of in his old age.

Then everyone in my section starting turning around and looking behind them at the Corporate Boxes. Apparently someone famous was sitting there - Andrew Packer. Not a clue, but everyone was excited to see him.

A bit later a guy wearing a t-shirt that said "Trust me I'm a leprechaun" asked me which sports I followed. I wasn't sure if Bon Jovi was an official sport yet, so I just said the first thing that came into my head "AFL". He then proceeded to talk about AFL and I nodded a lot. Leprechaun man left and two policeman came along to ensure all was orderly in my aisle (of course it was) and I got to ask the two questions I always think about when I see the police. 1. How heavy are those belts with all that stuff hanging off them (apparently very heavy) and doesn't all the heavy stuff jiggling about slow you down (yes!) and 2. when you both get out of the police car to chase a bad guy, who is in charge of locking the police car (the driver locks it, but sometimes they forget. And yes, the police car has been stolen!).

Then it was game over and home time. Till the next game comes along and I do it all over again. Hopefully mustache man will be back and Aisle 340 will be happy again.

American Idol is back....wooohoo!

Could I be anymore excited!? Well, possibly, but American Idol is BACK! I love Idol and since there is no Oz Idol this year, American Idol is all I have in the idol department. Stay tuned for my Idol comments. I'm very good at picking winners. Not. Everyone I think is singing really well, gets told they are rubbish.

Another day of work done, the new digs are doing OK, is just sucks as alot of stuff I need is in our old office so I am forever getting back to my new desk and realising that I forgot one thing. Arghhhh. Of course Roz and Stacy aren't in it which is bad :-( and there is no more talking to Rickland through the window. Plus if it's raining it is a very muddy and wet walk to the toilet

There are lots of positives though....here are a few:

1. The couch. Love the couch. Great place for having a lunch break in the aircon. Here Michelle demonstrates how to use the couch to its full potential:



2. Visitors. People have to walk extra far now to see us. So they stay longer. Well that's my theory. Here's Ranger Rickland demonstrating how a visitor uses the couch (and the complementary whoopee cushion):



3. The view. We look out over the horse paddocks and looking up and seeing the horses graze is so nice (almost as good as our previous view of Rickland)



4. Michelle is in it. Even though she is away for the next two weeks, it's good to see that Pink Keyboard!

Wispa Bars in Coles. Best. Day. Ever.

So.

Big day today. Today Roz (and that god she saw them) found Wispa Bars in Coles. This may not sound like a big deal, but to a Wispa bar addict, I have found the gold and the end of the rainbow.

I first discovered Cadbury Wispa Bars when I was working in the UK. They are kind of like a Aero bar, but just...better. I used to eat the mini ones on the bus on the way to work, at work, and on the bus on the way home from work. Then a terrible thing happened. I returned to Australia and realised that there were no Wispa bars. Anywhere. After sinking into a deep depression, (and having them shipped over) I kind of got over them.

Then I discovered them in the chocolate shop that sells chocolates from all over the world. Oh happy day! But they were expensive and it was a bit embarrassing to buy them by the pallet.

So this brings me back to today.....I'm walking up the drink aisle, minding my own business and singing songs from the sound of music (another story for another day) and I hear "Anita - Wispa" and Roz pointing to a Golden Pyramid. A golden pyramid of wispa bars. I have now converted Roz I think.

There are three types of Wispa Bars. I shall know tell you all about them. Just because I can.

Wispa - the original and the best. Plain chocolate with chocolate on the outside:

Wispa Mint - my second favourite. Same as the Wispa original except with a layer of mint.

Wispa Gold - my least favourite of the three, but still better than any another bar. Same as the Wispa original except with a layer of caramel.

Anyway. Yes I have written all this on the Wispa Bar. Sad? Maybe. But a girl's got to have a hobby :-)

Thank god it's....you know the rest.

Well this is a week I am glad to see the back of. Hasn't been the best week, but hurrah for the weekend. And pay day. Hurrah for pay day! It's the most wonderful day of the fortnight.

Once again the highlight of the day was lunch. Michelle found a new place that had been advertised on a billboard and after a wrong turn (we should always listen to Roz!) we found it. And it was good. After six seconds of looking at the menu I guessed exactly what everyone would order. I guess it's not that hard to do: Michelle always get the same thing (the only gluten free option - note to self, open gluten free restaurant.) Stacy always has the vegan option (or the vegetarian option with no cheese, which is as good as it gets for her usually) and I just knew Roz would get the Vege Lasagna. Don't know why, I just did. And I was right.

Here are Roz and Stacy waiting for their lunches to arrive. Yes that is beer that Stacy is drinking - we all needed a drink after this week.





So after lunch it was back to work (shotgun!) - first time we have gone to lunch and then had to go to our separate offices. V.sad.

Anyway Brown Bear (aka Minnie) returns to work next week. We will see what she has to say about all this. Flightplan is on the TV at the moment and this movie always reminds me of her - she just loves her Jodie Foster!

Me out. Next week - welcome to awesome good times again!

Moving Day...

Moving day today at work. Ugh. Hate moving offices. Hate change. Am not a big changer. Still it wasn't too bad. I managed not too have a meltdown, yell at Michelle "you know what...?" and storm out of the office. This has happened previously. As I said, I don't do change well.

If you know me you know I like.....stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. I like it at home, in the car and at work. Some call it hoarding, I call it collecting awesome things. So moving offices is no easy feat - it takes lots of boxes and many trips back and forth. Which is very tiring.

This is a piccy of my desk before the move. NB: This is a fairly clean time in the life of my desk. And the bird isn't usually there. You get the picture.

Michelle on the other hand has....not alot. She has some folders and a dead plant. Not so bad for her. She came into our new office after I'd moved and said "your side makes my eyes hurt."

I think that summed up the day pretty well. That and when my hard drive fell on my foot and left a dent.

Woof Woofs & Meow Meows. And some birds.

The highlight of my day today was a visit at work from Julie and Lola. Lola bought me lunch (well I"m assuming it was Lola and not her mum) which we ate while also keeping one hand on Lola as she tried to make a mad dash for the "woof woof" pens.


Here is Lola checking out the goats in the farmyard. And the goats checking out Lola:







Then the little goat decided it was about time that someone her size turned up and followed Lola around for a while:





Lola then decided to stare down one of the other goats:




"Now you sit here Mr Goat"




Lola asks the horse "where are the birds in this joint? I keep asking for birds!":





Here they are! These ones are a lot better than the evil ones that fly at your head and think your mother is a tree!!






Lola asks her mother if she can take home a pet rat - I'm sure Dad won't mind at all.

Lola checks out the woof woofs available:

Birds? What Birds?

Am I Australia's Next Top Model?

Slightly better day today...only so much can happen and then you just have to stop and laugh. Thank god for those around me. And also calling shotgun on the way to lunch! I am so good at shotgun.

There's an ad on TV every 5 minutes that keeps asking "Are you australia's next top model? I have seen this ad so many times I am beginning to think that I just may be. Watch this space.

I picked up Rob and Jo (my brother and sister in law) from the airport tonight - another reason to smile. On the way home we dropped a possum off at his crib in Gumdale - he'd been hanging out in the Wildlife Ward with Ranger Rickland. Now he was feeling better and ready to get back to his family, I'm sure his wife/husband/significant other/life partner was wondering where he had been. So Harvey (as I named him) raced out of the carry cage and hotfooted it up the nearest tree. Not even a thank you. Rude. It was an airport run and I didn't get any credit.

Things I am grateful for today:

• Ranger Rickland and her possum fixing ability (and her listening ability outside school grounds)
• Michelle, Roz and Stacy
• Rob and Jo (and Ash)
• James
• Mum and Dad
• QLD Health
• Survivor (especially Russell)
• Ebay

And things that made me smile:

• Watching the possum run up the tree
• Jaz the cat flu cat running full speed to the door when he hears the trolley coming (dinner!)
• Minnie's hilarious text messages
• The obscene phone message and phone number ID to help in calling them back
• NW Magazine.
• This quote from the movie Role Models:
  Gayle Sweeny: Well, well, well. If it isn't Mr. Bullshit and Dr. I'm-full-of-shit?
  Wheeler: In what way are we full of shit?
  Danny: Which one of us has the Ph.D?

It's not all sunshine and lollipops....

So it's been a fairly crappy day workwise. Just when you think nothing else can phase you, bim, bam, boom it comes right a ya.

Even in this day of many downs, the more I sit and think about it, the more I can list the things about the day the made me smile and made me grateful to have:

• the tiny grey kitten that was fast asleep and curled up in her empty food dish. Now that bought a smile to my face for quite a while.
  
• lunch at Salisbury with Roz and Michelle. We always have such a great time when we get together, although the "sulky girl with taco" lunch will go down in history as the best lunch ever. Also getting to ride shotgun to and from lunch in Michelle's new car. Now that made me happy!
  
• talking to my brothers on the phone. Those boys can make me laugh.


• the tiny little puppies running around in grass that was taller than them in the field.
  
• my mum listening to me doing shaky sobs down the phone. No one says more without saying anything than your mum :-)
  
• Jerry Seinfeld "I'M FREAKING OUT!"
  
• the three little furry faces that were all staring at me as I opened the door when I got home tonight. Those little faces are sometimes all you need.
  
• Ella

Another Year, Another Jon Bon Jovi Calendar

So while the enthusiasm for this blog continues, I am back for a second day in row...

Last day of Christmas Holidays today....back to work tomorrow. I love where I work, what I do and I love the people (most of them!) that I work with. The office politics can get you down, but I guess that comes with any job. Working in the animal welfare industry though, at least you feel as though you are doing it all for a reason (a very furry, scaly, hairy or feathery reason).

This year at work should be interesting, especially as our office door was broken down a few days ago by someone who just had to get in and didn't look very far for the key! Doorless or not, I guess we still have to go tomorrow to our little demountable and start the new year with a positive attitude. Of course the puppies and kittens will help with this, along with my 2010 Jon Bon Jovi calendar that every year has pride of place on the wall (and every year is harder to find - surely the demand for Jon on a calendar would only go up and not down?)

The highlight of the day was Grocery Shopping and the special on Peach Iced Tea at Coles - 3 large bottles for $8. Nice. Although I am worried I am getting addicted to it. I try to limit to one small bottle a day, but sometimes that's just not happening. I tried the 99% sugar free stuff, but bleck. Yucko so chemically tasting. That said, it's OK in a pinch.

Anyway, sad that it's day two and I'm blabbing on about Coles and Iced Tea specials. Never mind - work always provides a lot of inspiration for writing, oh the things that happen in the Ausco Shed!

So to end, the things that I am grateful for today (with my very shallow hat on):

• Iced coffee with lots of ice (especially the first big slurp)
• Reality TV
• Coles Gift Vouchers
• Air conditioning
• The fact that the cat didn't pee anywhere except her litter tray - yay!!

So a blog huh? Yes it's a blog!

Inspired by my beautiful friend Julie, and a New Years resolution to write more, here is the blog that everyone (or perhaps no one except my mum) has been waiting for!

Julie has a fabulous blog http://mamajuliemadeit.blogspot.com/ all about her and of all the things she creates for family. I love reading it and thought that creating my own would be a good way to make sure I write every day(ish).

I've called it "A Year of Anita" so I am determined to keep it going for 2010. I'm going to write about everything and anything - my friends and family (including my furry friends and family), things that make me smile, things I am grateful for and some of the crazy thoughts that randomly go through my head about 6 million times a day.

So for my first blog, the things that made me smile today were:

• Watching the Peter Serafinowicz show with my mum and dad and laughing so hard I almost fell off the couch;
• having my three furry kids meet me at the door when I got home;
• listening to the new Bon Jovi album all the way home at maximum volume; and
• knowing there is one more sleep in before having to go back to work.

PS. I realise that I am a day late in starting my blog - my other resolution of not procrastinating is obviously not off to a great start!