I'm quite possibly going to get more time off over Christmas than I originally expected - close to three weeks. THREE WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKS!
As you can probably tell, I'm rather pleased about that, but I shouldn't book any holidays just yet in case it doesn't actually happen. My office was originally planning to close from 25 December to 5 January, giving me about 10 days off, but now the plan is to shut up shop from 20 December to 12 January. I'm hoping I'll be able to work up to 24 December because I don't have enough annual leave accrued to take paid leave for the entire period. I'll now have to sit tight for a bit while the partners review everyone's annual leave preferences to see if I get my three weeks.
I'm going to be in Melbourne for Christmas Day this year, for the first time in more than 10 years. It will be my first Christmas Day with Luke and his family.
Luke and I have vague plans for a road trip along the Great Ocean Road, and continuing along the coast to Adelaide, although given our plan is still only vague and other people have already booked their holiday accommodation, we might have to road trip to a less popular destination, or acquire a tent.
I'm also excited about having plenty of free time in Melbourne. I love a staycation. I'm going to start writing a list of all the things I want to see and do.
It's great to go away, but it's always wonderful to get home. Hello, Melbourne! Hello, flat! Hello, bed! I missed you. I had a restful time away, but now it's time for the productive bit of my break - I have an extensive list of stuff to do before I go back to work next Monday. I started today by clearing out six bags of clothes and clutter from my bedroom (and disturbing a huntsman spider, which I safely deposited onto the fire escape with the aid of a mop).
I arrived home to find the photos I'd had printed onto canvas had been delivered. Yay! Believe it or not, these are the only photos of mine that I've ever had printed for display at home. They look great hanging in my lounge room. I feel inspired to get more photos done now, but it's so hard to choose which ones. (Oh, if you're wondering, the photos are close-ups of reflections of the Skywheel on the Yarra River at night).
I bought some fresh basil today and now my kitchen smells like basil. I just love the aroma and there's no substitute for fresh basil when it comes to taste either. I'm making a pizza - well, I'm topping a pre-prepared gluten-free base with ham, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and pine nuts. I'm currently roasting pumpkin and garlic for the pizza sauce.
While at the supermarket I was a party to someone else's little moment of glee and it was just about as good as having one of my own. I asked for 250 grams of ham at the deli and when the staffer placed the meat on the scales, it was EXACTLY 250 grams. All right! She was pretty pleased with herself and rightly so.
I have had a very domesticated weekend, which is unusual for me. I'm not much for the cleaning and cooking and stuff. I do what I have to do to avoid living in squalor and starving, but I'm not dedicated to the domestic arts. I am of the opinion that there is almost always a more enjoyable and life-enhancing way to use my spare time.
But you know, I actually feel really pleased with my efforts this weekend. I've grocery shopped, cooked food for my lunches during the week, had a mini-spring clean, ironed clothes that have been sitting in my ironing basket for months, taken up a hem by hand on a new pair of trousers, mended the hems on several other pairs of pants, washed and folded my laundry (including sheets and dooner cover) and made my bed both days.
I actually feel a sense of achievement, which scares me a little bit. How can I be so easily pleased by such mundane things? Things I don't even like doing? Domestic drudgery, for god's sake! Am I that small minded?
Apparently, yes. It is nice knowing my flat is clean. It is nice knowing I can reach into my wardrobe and find that pink shirt to wear to work next week. It is nice not leaving a new pair of work trousers in the wardrobe for months until I get around to having them taken up. It is nice actually doing the job myself. It is nice knowing that my work trousers are looking a little bit smarter than they have been (even if no one notices). It is nice to have a fresh doona cover on my bed, all my clothes washed and neatly folded and put away ready for the week ahead. It is nice having something different and tasty to eat which I made myself from scratch (even if it's only because of this allergy elimination diet I'm on which virtually precludes eating anything that isn't homemade).
It probably isn't that small-minded really. It's not just that I enjoy everything looking neat and clean and organised - I actually get a real feeling of being in control when everything in my living space is in order. An orderly physical environment seems to clear a little psychic clutter as well, and that's always a good thing.
It's also the case that I wrote a to-do list this weekend - as I do nearly every weekend (yes, I know) - and most of the tasks I completed were on that list. If you've been reading this for a while, you will know I love crossing jobs off my to-do list.
And anyway, even if it is small minded to some, I believe it's far easier to be happy when you can derive satisfaction and pleasure from the unremakable events and activities of every day life. Which is the idea that underpins this whole blog!
There was a letter in the mail box from my real estate agent when I got home tonight. The sight of it made my heart pound. You see, my lease expires in less than two months and I've been preparing myself to get a notice to vacate so the new owners can redevelop the building.
Fortunately before I opened it I twigged that a notice to vacate would have been sent by registered post so the poundy heart stopped. I opened it and -YAYS! They're putting new carpet in the stairwell in January!
No, I'm not especially thrilled about new carpet - the expenditure on new floor coverings means they won't be redeveloping any time soon and I get to stay! Hurrah! *happy dance*
My flatmate (who's now back from her trip) told me last night she's going to look for a place of her own when the lease is up. If we had to vacate, I would have done the same, but I love living here so much that I'd prefer to stay and get a new flatmate.
This is such a relief. I've lived here for five years - hard to believe it's now the longest I've lived anywhere since I left home in 1992 - and for probably three of those five years I've been living with the possibility of vacating so the owners can redevelop.
Of course there is always the possibility they will still redevelop in the future, but you'd think after spending money to carpet three flights of stairs, they won't be doing it for at least a couple of years. It's not like the existing carpet is a safety hazard or horrendously worn out.
Hopefully when the time comes to find a new flatmate it will be as effortless as it was last time, and the new flattie will be as good as Anna.
Happy happy joy joy #2
I have got a whole three weeks off work, starting on Christmas Eve. I'm SO hanging out for it. I haven't had a full week off work all year (mostly because I've been trying to save my annual leave). Not that I've been working hard or anything. I'm not burnt out...just sort of drained by the boredom.
My office closes on 24 December and re-opens on January 11 so everyone has to take that time off, but I'm taking a couple of extra days.
I'm going to visit my mother in New South Wales for about 10 days over the Christmas-New Year period and then the rest of the time I will be having a staycation in Melbourne, which, as many of you might recall, I love to do. I get almost as excited by that as the prospect of having a proper holiday.
I'm already compiling a list of things to do with my time off...
Champagne and Reefer
Can't recall if I've posted this video already, but I love the song so much I'm gonna do it again. This is from the Rolling Stones concert doco Shine a Light - the Stones featuring special guest Buddy Guy.
Love the blues. Love Buddy Guy's enormous voice and his guitar work. Love the harmonica. It gives me goosebumps.
