Elsja Down Under

What Did YOU Do at Work Today? August 31, 2007

Here’s what I did:

 

Just another ordinary day at the office.

Booking up Fast August 30, 2007

25 days until the big move! TWENTY FIVE DAYS! sooo crazy. It is going by quickly and I’m really looking forward to the next few weeks:

Many dinners with my friends

Training our new guy at work

Hair appointment- so excited to get rid of my roots

My birthday/going away party

Burke Williams with my mom and sister

Amanda visiting in a few weeks

Babysitting the kiddyroos

my sister’s birthday

And at the end of it all…. I get to see Andrew!!! YAYAY

 

Goodbye Goodbye August 25, 2007

Goodbye dear friends, (and by dear friends I mean everything I own). Goodbye dishes. Goodbye blankets. Goodbye paintings. Goodbye TV. Goodbye winebar…

ok ok… Sorry I’m just having a moment here. I just said goodbye to all my belongings. I will hopefully see them ALL… NOT BROKEN… in about 8 weeks.

Remember this????

Well here is what it looks like now:

Where did it all go you ask??

Well, yesterday… it went here:

And today… it went here:

 

And now, everyone please say a nice little prayer that it will make it safely here:

I Never Thought I Would Make It August 23, 2007

Ugh… seriously my least favorite thing in the world is traffic.

 

Here is my drive from work to home. Notice the total estimated time: 23 minutes

 Ok so maybe it doesn’t take 23 minutes. I mean, it does if there is NO traffic- but that is rare. Usually it takes about 35 minutes… maybe 40.

On reallllllly bad days it takes an hour and the LONGEST it has EVER taken is 1 hour, 5 minutes (yes, I do keep track).

Today:

ONE HOUR AND FORTY MINUTES!!! yes- that’s right- almost 2 hours!!!! Left work at 6:10pm – got home at 7:50pm. Why do people have to get in such bad accidents and close practically the whole freeway. It makes me hate drivers.

you can imagine how angry and pissy I was the entire drive…especially since it was dinner time and I was starving. Luckily I finally made it and my mom had a yummy dinner waiting for me I’m much better now.

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The Progressive Downfall of my Bedroom August 21, 2007

First we have my nice, happy, clean, organized room.

 

Next, you will see my room at the begining of my packing process. At this stage I just sort of stopped putting things away since I knew I would be pulling it all back out within a matter of a week or so.

 

And now….

Be prepared…

 

For the horror that is my room….

 

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! The sad part is… other than those white sheets on the bed and the bags in the back corner… everything in that room, was in my room in the first picture too- it was just PUT AWAY NICELY! Now… its chaos.

MOVING YOUR LIFE SUCKS ASS

 

(AND THIS IS JUST ONE ROOM OF MY STUFF- LET’S NOT FORGET ABOUT THIS ONE):

 

OH GOD. I’m so glad all this stuff will be gone on Saturday!

Creepy Crawly August 19, 2007

I admit it… I kill bugs. When there’s a spider in my shower- I rinse it down the drain and I always feel guilty after- but I don’t want it in my shower! I told Shannon last week that I’m a bug racist because I kill spiders and ugly things, but I spared the life of a ladybug last week when it was stuck on my car door. I blew it away before I closed the door, so I wouldnt smash it. If that was a spider- it would have been toast.

So anyways, because of this guilt, I try not to kill bugs that aren’t in my way. So a couple weeks ago I saw this big creepy spider on this cart in my garage. It was ugly. I even told my dad about it and he said he saw it too- but you know what?? I had no reason to kill it. It’s in my garage, not bothering me. So I let it live.

Well, tonight I learned my lesson. I realized why I SHOULD kill all bugs! The damn thing was evidently pregnant. I went to put some clothes in the dryer and in the corner of my eye  I saw pollen looking stuff on the cart (near the dryer)… but it was MOVING. Umm… yeah… probably 100 tiny baby spiders crawling around. The nozzle on our bug spray is broken so I got out some bleach cleaner and sprayed the shit out of those things. Now, I should feel guilty for killing hundreds of BABY bugs- but I DON’T!!! I don’t want to get spider bites because I decided to spare the lives of those little things. I feel like they are crawling all over me. I need a shower.

Death to the spiders!! Just wait Australia- I am coming to kill your bugs! Except roaches. I’m scarrrred of roaches… so if i see one of those- I’ll put a bowl over it and wait for Andrew to come home and get it!

WHYYYYY is Australia SOOO Expensive August 16, 2007

As many of you know, I have frequently discussed how most things in Australia are very expensive compared to here. For instance:

1. A case of corona…. $70!!!

2. An oil change….$80!!!

And clearly concerts are no exception. Take a look at the comparison of a Muse concert here (which I am going to) and a Muse concert there (which I wanted to go to, but now realize I will NOT be going).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WTF?? Seriously that ruined my night.

 

 

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About That Time August 15, 2007

For another session of things I love/don’t love

1. I love my cool new see through blue citibank ATM card. Yes, I’m serious… I really am happy that it looks so pretty.

2. I don’t love that I have 2 bank accounts. I like to be organized so I can’t wait to just make the big transfer so that everything can all be in one account and I wont get confused where my money is.

3. I don’t love that in a little over a week, almost everything I own will be taken from my house and put on a boat. I’m a little scared and sad to part with everything. I hope the boat doesnt go through any hurricanes on the way to Sydney. And… I don’t love that I’ll basically live out of a suitcase for TWO MONTHS!

4. However; I love that my room will finally be clean once everything is gone. For the last 2 weeks I’ve just been piling crap everywhere in 2 rooms of my house. No sense in putting it away because I’ll have to just drag it all out again next Saturday.

5. I love the delicious Trader Joes pasta my sister made for dinner. Takes 6 minutes to make and its soooo delish!

6. I love that we hired someone at my work to help us out! He doesn’t start for 2 weeks but he hopefully will be a BIG help.

7. I love eating salad from Panera EVERY day.

8. I love that I got an email today informing me that Muse will be playing in Sydney in November!! I’m TOTALLY dragging Andrew even though he hates them. Such perfect timing for the Australia leg of their tour. And sydney is the 4th show in australia so they should be over their jet lag by then so they will perform well! Yes, I thought this all out!

9. I don’t love figuring out health insurance issues for when I move. It really really is a pain in the ass!

10. Lastly, I love Andrew and I can’t believe that it will be almost 6 months by the time we finally see each other again.

I Love Animals, But I Don’t Want One August 13, 2007

I just saw an ad on TV for the ASPCA and it showed all these injured and rescued animals. It played “In the Arms of an Angel” by Sara McLachlan. Seriously.. that made me want to cry.

For some reason, I don’t particularly LOVE animals- but hurt animals, or animals left alone all day, or animals who lose their parents (lion king, bambi, dumbo)… REALLY get to me! I really feel super guilty when my dog has to sleep by herself at night when my parents are gone. (I’d let her sleep with me, but she snores). Regardless, what is it about animals that tugs at my heart?? And why do people want to hurt them? It’s sad. I mean, I guess I feel like hurting birds sometimes because they are freaking obnoxious, but fluffy, furry animals are just so innocent and cute.

I remember very clearly that when I was little, I had the hardest time leaving my stuffed animals or picking ones to sit on my bed. If i picked one to sleep with, I would apologize to the others and I’d feel guilty that I didn’t pick them. Yes, I’m completely serious. I would lay there thinking “I know they don’t know that I didn’t pick them, but I feel bad” I just couldn’t get over the guilt that I was choosing one over the others.

That feeling… that is how I feel about animals. Like they just get so sad or something. This is the main reason I never want a pet. Not because I don’t want to clean up the mess (well, there’s that too), but mostly, I don’t want to live with the guilt if I have to leave it with a dogsitter for a week when I go on a trip or if I don’t play with it enough.

Pathetic.

Oh and i just had a total epiphany… I’ve ALWAYS been indecisive! I know the last few years my indecisivness has been out of control but my difficulty in choosing has clearly existed my entire life. Even when I finally did make a choice when I was little, I just would lay there feeling guilty about it!!

So Much to Do… August 12, 2007

While moving is exciting and fun, it is also hard work. And moving to a different country is even freaking harder. People probably dont realize all that I must do… just be glad you don’t have to do all this stuff!!

1. Buy a ticket

2. Plan shipping for all my stuff, arranging for shipping insurance and hiring movers to pack everything. This also includes creating an itinerary of everything I own- EVERYTHING! Also including how much each item costs, and also once these things are packed I have to write down what is in each and every box). FYI- so far this list consists of over 150 items. Imagine writing down every fork, pillow and sheet you own. UGH! Oh and I won’t go into all the forms I need to fill out!

3. Buy transformers so I can plug in my American TV. (electrical please… when I went to radioshack they thought I was talking about Optimus Prime).  And no, you can’t just use those little plug adaptors- that would be too easy. No no, you have to buy transformers with specific voltage, wattage and other crap. Andrew and I still can’t figure out why votage and plug shapes are different in every dang country.

4. Figure out my health insurance situation. I won’t even explain this one…

5. Phones: I will be buying a skype in number (714) so that friends and family can call me for free. I also need to create a skype account for my parents and buy them a skype phone and then buy myself one too when I get to Sydney. I will need to get a new cell phone once I’m there.

6. And then there was the issue of what to do with my car… that was a stressful one… but thankfully it is allllll situated now

7. Hiring someone new at my work since I will be leaving. Hopefully that one will be completed early this week! I’ll still be working, but only part time- and obvioulsy I won’t be working from the office

8. Get a new bank account that will allow me to withdraw money in Australia without charging me a shitload of fees for using “non Bank of America ATMs”. But that won’t even solve my problem of getting charged every time I use a debit card to buy groceries and crap so I will  also need to get an Australian account once I am there.

Seriously… that’s not even all… but I figure you’ve probably all been bored reading this. 

So on that note, I’ll show you all my new painting that I painted for my future bedroom (I also threw in a picture of the new bedding I bought too.)

Ok Here’s the News August 7, 2007

Well… the time had come… we all knew it was inevitable right?Last night I bought my ticket to Australia! Eh… big deal you might think… I’ve been there before- no news here… but then you think to yourself…Wait…to move there???

 Me and this guy will be waiting for you:

Stay Tuned August 6, 2007

This weekend I went to Wild Rivers with my niece and nephew and had a great time. Emma was very brave. For a girl who just learned to swim (took her a little longer due to a scare she had a few years ago when she fell in a pool- it kinda traumatized her)- she was pretty brave and went on all the little slides that she was able to go on. Sadly, I heard they are closing WR after this year… probably to build even more overpriced houses that no one can afford. All that summer fun for families in OC will be washed away by more cement and wood. Gay. It’s been a tradition the last 4 years for me and Preston to go to Wild Rivers. Kinda sad that it will be ending now. Oh, but it’s not sad that I will no longer be forced to witness the beasts in bathing suits that are so prominent around the park. I’ve never seen so many trashy OBESE families in bathing suits in my life. It’s pretty sad because you see these kids who are super overweight… realize just how unhealthy they are- and then you see their parents who are ten times worse. Poor kids.

After I got home I was so tired that I contemplated going to bed at 7:30. No joke. The only reason I didn’t is because I knew I would wake up really early on Sunday and I didn’t want to. I just wanted to sleep in! I knew I needed a night to relax and veg after all my stress and work lately, but I didn’t realize just how bad I would need it. Sooo… I opted to stay home and just watch lots of TV. I was able to stay awake for a few hours but was in bed before 11:00pm. I just really needed the rest.

At least I managed to get one shade darker (my skin I mean) so now instead of pasty white, I am just milky white… wait, is that even darker than pasty? Still got a ways to go before I am even remotely tan. Maybe that will change next week when the girls and I go to Palm Springs!

 

Ooook… bed time.

oh… and…

Exciting news to come… stay tuned for details.