Quick post!

This is Izzy

He's been one of my adopted soldiers since April of last year.

And he's almost home (in Ireland waiting for a flight)

Yay!!!!!  [doing extremely happy dance that he'll soon be home & safe]

(and he's not as scary as his picture would suggest ;D)

Red Alert!

Meeep!!! - My Parental units are descending upon us tomorrow for a "quick visit".

They are both retired and doing the Grey Nomad thing (i.e. they go off in their camper van for months on end enjoying the solitude (?) of the bush and fossicking for gems & gold*).

I saw them last at Christmas and have since then offered to either a) visit or b) have them over, however their busy social lives / health / never being home on the same days as I am etc, means that tomorrow is the first & last time I'll be able to catch up with them for another 3 months.

So now I have to clean like crazy; find non-obvious hiding spots for any of the vaguely adult items in the house (actually this isn't the porn collection - this is any videos that might be vaguely controversial and any of my more risque romance titles) since Mum & Dad are conservatives of the highest order; and try to ensure that everything passes muster so I can avoid the whole pitiful mother stare of "whatdidIdowrongwithher". 

I do love them - but can we tell that I'm the wild child of the family? (not married, no children, no intention of curbing my lifestyle "defects", Oh and Living-in-sin** etc).  I guess at least I have a conservative job so that's okay.

*before anyone goes "ooh Pax will have access to riches one day" - they store all their finds in little glass conversational bottles to show visitors. And no - the conversation of "so who inherit these?" isn't allowed :(

**I have to point out that the phrase "Living-in-Sin" sounds far more decadent and luxurious that reality has it.  Am I doing it wrong? or maybe I should have tried it with a Sugar-Daddy? 8D

To sleep.. perchance (?)

Apologies as always to the Bard - his words are just so much fun to mangle

The Downside of having a 4 day weekend is that my sleep patterns get totally slewed about.

I will be the first to admit that I am naturally nocturnal - usually by evening is when all the caffiene I've ingested during the day hits the brain and I am AWAKE!!  (and for those of you playing at home that's Coke not Pepsi)

It's just a real pity that I have to be sentient enough tomorrow (okay - really later today) at work to do not only my job but my immediate bosses too (she's gone off on holidays leaving me with THE POWER... or more accurately the power* to buy books & stuff for my library. (our departmental budget is a wee bit overdrawn so pennies are being pinched - a true feat since we've not used the penny since 1966. Ooh Lookit! Australian trivia time) 

It's just gone half-past midnight here - anyone know of any sure fire ways of inducing sleep (and let's try for the "nice" sort people - my boyfriends' sense of humour lowers greatly after the pumpkin hour)

And in the mean time I'll go back to reading my latest "very interesting ebook" - although the editing defects in it aren't lulling me at all (seriously - how hard can it be for people to check context when running their spell checker? Your / You're have totally different meanings! Opps... sorry for the ranting - buttons have been pushed)

Aussie Aussie Aussie!

Today (26th of January) is Australia Day.
Ergo it's Australia's National day which (according to wikipedia)

"commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, the hoisting of the British flag there, and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia"

Therefore it's the also the same day our National ancestors began the decimation (by violence, sickness and ignorance) of the indigenous population. Today is also known as "Sorry Day" and "Invasion Day" to many people. [Changing the day of national celebration to a more neutral date has been discussed in recent years - sadly nothing has been resolved so far]

I am proud to be an Australian. Proud of our people, our general larrikin attitude to life and proud too that we are taking our place on the international stage more seriously these days.
This doesn't mean I'm also proud of past acts of stupidity, bigotry and racism but I see hope for us as a Nation when each generation takes more steps to rectify the past injustices [and not just to our indigenous members - look up "Home Children" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Children if you'd like to see what else the British/Australian/Colonials got up to]

So today I'm reflecting on what we are - where we have come from - where we need to go in the future, and what steps each of us need to take to get there. Of course about 80% of my fellow countrymen are probably too busy banging snags on to the barbie and guzzling beer to share these thoughts but (hopefully) when they sober up they might have similar thoughts too.

I'll leave you with some iconic Australian symbols (and stop being depressing)

Pax Lazyius-Bloggis

I'm having a very busy week work wise / health wise and drama wise so here's a lazy post to prove that I am still around & about.

I know I've shared this with a few of you via email/facebook but thought I'd share the love some more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHYkEaFjMOU

This is from the British car show "Top Gear" - one of their "Car versus British Army" series.

I'll post the others next time :)

Pax

Pax Domesticus

Our recent bookshelf building adventures left our carpet in dire need of some TLC - and since I'm too scottish to pay for a professional cleaner to do just one room (we only have two rooms +bathroom in the unit and the bedroom is just too "ground zero" with excess stuff to even consider finding the floor) I decided I would hire a steam cleaner and have at it myself.

This is the beast










The Cat was typically unhappy at the noise and furniture moving so sat outside and hissed at me whenever I appeared

A few hours of moving furniture, cleaning, moving furniture back and then convincing the cat that it was safe to come back inside and I have nice carpet again (well clean *old* carpet that came with the place when I bought it. The new carpet is on the list after 3 more renovation jobs)

And in foodie news since I've been salivating over the posts made at http://buffalodickdy.blogspot.com/ , I give you Kangaroo steaks with a variation of a caesar salad
(made by Mr. B who does 99% of the cooking here - I do the cleaning and eating :)

.

And some noms to show the diversity of the TimTam range (Hey Vicki! - Lookit!!)

Note also the stunning penguin lamp given to me by my friend Megs (and ignore the photos - that might be a future post - or not)

Pax Present-us

My friends are having a baby boy - in about 4 months time or so - so I have been in search of the perfect baby gift.

It's just so important that it reflect my inner Pax-ness so I hunted high & low for the "Very Thing"(tm.)

So this has now been ordered and will hopefully grace their door stoop shortly

(why yes.. I *AM* a geek - how ever did you work that out?)

I was also looking at these other shirts (below) but sadly they don't come in the itty-bitty range for new borns (technically Dad's not a ninja - he's an Airborne Ranger - but it's the sneakiness inherent in the man that draws me to his wit; not to mention his kick-arse wife with the killer one-liners)

There's also 2 pounds of jellybeans in the parcel - have to ensure I bribe the two older boys (6 & 8 years old) with continuing propoganda that "Aussie Mari is super cool".  I'm sure when they are a wee bit older I can look into a drum kit or two for them  [the joys of being so many many miles away from instant retribution :) ] - and as an added bonus can you imagine the Suger High they're going to have? Bwhahahaha!

The Importance of being Important

I love technology!  Due to the cleverness of the internets I managed to spend ages chatting to my friend Izzy last night. [Facebook instant messaging is pretty good]

Izzy is 3 week away from his return to the States from Iraq and currently living in a tent that seems to get great internet connection (or maybe his computer wizardry has assisted in that)

He mentioned in passing that rockets and things where being lobbed towards them on a regular basis - but that I was not to worry since they weren't hitting anything important.

So Izzy if you are reading this KEEP REMEMBERING YOU ARE IMPORTANT! - because you are to some of us at home (and keep your head down)

C is for Cookies!

I Love these guys - http://www.cookiesdirect.net/store.html

They really make sending Noms to my adopted soldiers so easy (and their "Treats for the Troops" program means they will add in an extra dozen cookies as a donation [people can add their own donations of $9 per order and when they send out your dozen extra batch they put in a cute card reading "donated by someone in X"]

I've just sent off 2 dozen (+ 1 Doz donation) to my third adoptee - he should receive them in about a fortnight so that's his sweet treat for the month sorted.

Now should I also send cookies to Adoptee #1 (and his team - since he shares anything I send with them all) or maybe some Mountain Thunder Kona?  Really not sure which would be more appreciated.  Any suggestions?

I wonder if this was the origin of the Rubber Maid??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNR74UCidBI&feature=player_embedded

I wiki'd the Ross Sisters - curious to see what else they did.  Looks to be a hard way to earn a living!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ross_Sisters

Memory like a... whats them big grey things??

My friend Vicki & I were discussing favourite Tolkien poems.

The Oliphaunt
by J.R.R. Tolkien

Grey as a mouse,

Big as a house,
Nose like a snake,
I make the earth shake,
As I tramp through the grass;
Trees crack as I pass.
With horns in my mouth
I walk in the South,
Flapping big ears.
Beyond count of years
I stump round and round,
Never lie on the ground,
Not even to die.
Oliphaunt am I,
Biggest of all,
Huge, old, and tall.
If ever you'd met me
You wouldn't forget me.
If you never do,
You won't think I'm true;
But old Oliphaunt am I,
And I never lie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci704VcSXTQ

Rule 3... thou shalt not mock the penguins!

Grrr....

Insomnia bites!

I have managed to have about 20 minutes sleep since my very stupid brain decided it did not want to shut down last night.

So now I'm blurry-eyed and cranky - about to head off to work to start the new year.

Maybe I can ingest enough caffeine to simulate "bright and perky"??  Got to be worth a shot!

2010 and it's back to work tomorrow

It was nice to have a week off from work - we've even had rain here to keep us cool so I've missed the air-conditioned office less than I expected.

My to-do list sadly didn't get touched much however I have managed to find all the paperwork I need for the start of the year at work and even sorted out part of our very large book collection.  Part of the "lack of things done" stems from battling an ear infection since Christmas Eve so I'll be organising a doctors appointment this week (it's not something that I talk about much but due to Meniere's I've lost all hearing on the left and most on the right. So any ear infection causes me angst and woe that it will take the remaining ability. Since stress is a major trigger for my dizzy fits can you guess how much time I've spent crashed out on the couch this week? On the upside - I got to be slothful)  My doctor is even more freaked by my ear problems than I am so I can guarantee that he'll give me super-powerful meds and if I ask for it - a note for time off - which sadly I won't be able to take since I am covering for two others plus my standard job.  So too much to do without then trying to do make up work - at least I get to sit down for most of the day.

On the "doing something nice for others" front (which I try to factor in each month) some cold marines will be receiving some hand warmers shortly (a friend spotted them on anymarine.com and let me know. Living in tents and working out of an unheated warehouse - breaks the heart to hear of it).  Must also arrange more cookies for Martin and Gilbert too.  I'm missing sending things to Izzy now - which is rather silly since I know he'll be home soon and safe - but it was always good to receive his occasional email and know I'd made him smile.

And I've managed to read a number of new books this week.  Mainly romance tales - some good, some abysmal. I really wish ebook editors would learn the difference between "You're" (you are...) and Your (possessive) - bad editing really kills the tale for me I'm afraid.

Bed soon - just waiting for the end of an episode of Rome (I got season 2 in the after-christmas sales). Mmm.. sword & togas! - love it :)