Where am I?

In case you weren't already aware, I will be posting at http://doreenisoverseas.blogspot.com/ for the next 5-6 months :)

So long...farewell

Hello 2009!

Anyway, quick post to say that I'll be flying off to NEW YORK at 4.15 pm today. Woohoo! However am still lying on the floor of my new apartment, waiting for the plumber to arrive (he said 9 am....gggrrr....made me wake up so early today, and I'm still waiting for him!)

Trying to get some bits and pieces of work done before I leave for the next 5-6 months. Hehe.

And I have a little more packing to do.....hmm.

Can't wait!

On a day like today

Many moons ago...I received this poem as a birthday gift.
And many moons later...I have not forgotten.

Happy Birthday.

Ascension

And if i go, while you're still here...

Know that i still live on, vibrating to a different measure - behind a thin veil you cannot see through.

You will not see me, so you must have faith.

I wait for the time when we can soar together again, both aware of each other.

Until then, live your life to its fullest.

And when you need me, just whisper my name in your heart,

......I will be there

-Colleen Corah Hitchcock

[edit: why is my itunes playing all the emo tunes tonight! -_____-"]

End of 2009

Yesterday marked the end of 2008 at work....on leave from today! woohoo....

Anyway the family is now is Brisbane, spending Christmas with my auntie, cousins and their respective families. Should be good fun.

The drive up wasn't too bad, I think the mode of transport is very important. Melvyn lent us his Holden HSV cos he's in Singapore so lucky us! V8 engine, 6 litres..real fun to drive!

Although did drive by the scene of a fatal car accident (yes, was definitely fatal. and maybe shouldn't have looked). So...for everyone travelling over the Christmas break, travel safe! Don't speed (excessively) and stop, revive survive!

Because I have nothing better to do....

MEME TIME

WHO ARE U? Quarter-centurion, still quite aimless. Unable to make proper "grown-up" plans, unable to stick to a budget and unable to stay away from sales (aaaahhh...). Always the procrastinator. And messy. In short, not very pleasant.

WHO/WHAT INSPIRES U? People who have their life in order and still manage to have fun. People who actually achieve things in life.

WHAT ARE UR CURRENT OBSESSIONS? Erm. Shopping? Trying to sort out my music library before I go overseas.

WHAT IS UR DREAM OCCUPATION? Watching the world go by...maybe a cafe. Nothing too tedious, but sufficiently paid of course. How else would I pay the bills?

IF U COULD BUY ANYTHING WHAT WOULD IT BE? The ability to read minds. But I don't think you can buy this. So erm, my own private jet (where maintenance costs are covered...for life)

WHAT ATTRACTS U? Nice smells, charming smiles and witty humour

WHO IS UR IDEAL MAN? Sincerity, humour and hmm. don't know

WHO IS THE MOST HANDSOME PERSON ON EARTH? Most handsome? That's hard. But Ewan McGregor is hot (just saw him on TV the other night)

WHAT DO U THINK ABOUT FASHION? Tedious

WHAT IS UR BIGGEST DREAM? That life is peachy.

WHAT CLOTHES DO U PREFER? Jeans and tee....comfort first

WHAT DO U DO WHEN YOUR ALONE? Listen to music....surf blogs, youbtube, random things. Watch DVDs. Read. SLEEPzzzzzzzzzzz.

WHAT ARE UR PLANS FOR THE COMING YEAR? Haha. Doreen is travelling the world! Well...not quite the world....but good enough for now. New York, here I come! And then....Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Los Angeles, London, Paris, some Europe tour (Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Prague, Germany, Amsterdam etc), Singapore. Then back home to Sydney....
And then it's back to reality and the mountain of debt. BOO :(
Maybe after that I will decide to settle down and stop spending every single cent I have.

Time for a little self reflection

Your view on yourself:
You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:
You are a true romantic. When you are in love, you will do anything and everything to keep your love true.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:
You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:
Your have very sensible tactics when approaching the opposite sex. In many ways people find your straightforwardness attractive, so you will find yourself with plenty of dates.

Your views on education:
Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:
You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

How do you view success:
You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:
You are concerned about your image and the way others see you. This means that you try very hard to be accepted by other people. It's time for you to believe in who you are, not what you wear.

Who is your true self:
You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.
_________________________________________________
Got this off him here....or try it for yourself here

Quite generic, but fairly accurate.

I still can't understand...

..how I managed to lose not one..but TWO wireless cards in 2 days is beyond me.

This is not good. I think this new laptop bag eats wireless cards. How did I misplace the cards if I put them in the bag????

Ugh. And the second card wasn't even mine...borrowed it from a colleague cos I was out at a client today. Frickin hell....each card is a few hundred bucks....I'm gonna be in BIG TROUBLE at work :(

Hope someone from my team managed to pick the card up and will hopefully return it to me tomorrow.

Which also means...no working from home tomorrow cos I'll be without the wireless. ARGH.

Should go to bed soon then.

Hunter Valley with a bottle of wine...

So we're up in the Hunter Valley (Cypress Lakes Resort, to be more precise) for a 3 day offsite training event, and we're almost done! Tomorrow is the last day woohoO!

But it's been more fun than expected actually...had a team building activity this afternoon which involved each team building a billy kart and racing it down a track. And while my team didn't actually win the race, we beat the other 24 teams and came in first because of points won in other areas...the key deciding factor being teamwork. Haha cos our 'epic' race involved all 3 teams struggling to get through 20m on the track (due to lack of pushing power, karts falling over, running into other karts etc). That was quite a funny match. Won ourselves a bottle of win each...woohoo

And then during Melbourne Cup Dinner, my table came first in the races...where we had got the opportunity to bet "PCS money" on 4 (past) races. With PCS$800 we managed to chalk up some PCS$4,400, beating the other tables to win chocolates from the Hunter Chocolate company...yay!

So now back in my nice room.....checking emails and going to bed.

Tomorrow's training starts at 8am and ends at 6pm....then I need to drive about 2.5 hrs (actually expecting about 3hrs plus due to traffic) back to Sydney. And there is breakfast, checking out....etc.

Erm alright
Night all!

ps. actually wanted to write and say that I've finally gotten my application forms for USA Visa, so...that means I'm going for sure! Yay!!

Booking my tickets soon :)

At last...

So after a week sleeping 3-4 hours per night and working from 8ish am til late (say between 10 pm and 1ish am)....I managed to sleep early last night!

The start of daylight savings (where we all turned our clocks forward 1 hour) screwed up my body clock big time. The weekend it happened, I got home and went to bed around 5 am. Then the following week was just...bad. Going to bed past 3 am every night and waking up around 6.30 am for work. Argh.

So yesterday I went home and zonked out at 8 pm. Whilst I was getting ready for my shower. Which means I slept with my contacts on and without washing up. Ugh. But hey, I only woke up at 5.30 am

Yay!

Will hopefully start looking less like a panda and won't have bad skin.

And...thank goodness for Focus Day & Night (30 days continuous wear) lenses! hahahaha. My eyes are still alive :)

Ok back to work.

Poo

Hmm I don't know why my eyes are small and puffy today. Had an eye infection earlier in the week but is getting better now. Maybe didn't get enough sleep....got woken up by real estate agent this morning -_________-"

Ah well. Need to go to the office and get some work done anyway, so guess is a good thing.

Think I'll rest the eyes and wear my glasses today. Ugh.

Life is wonderful

It takes a thought to make a word
And it takes some words to make an action
It takes some work to make it work
It takes some good to make it hurt
It takes some bad for satisfaction

I am sleeeeepy

At work now...but a little distracted cos I'm tired :(

Anyway I had a sudden urge to go through photos on facebook and started browsing photos from the recent birthday as well as the trip back to Singapore.

I miss Singapore! :( And the friends of course...
And been eating out too much...maybe should cut down. Except Merrill suggested that we go to O Bal Tan on Saturday (what's new...), so maybe need to make an exception. Haha.

Ok back to work. Boo.

Frustration

...I can't get to sleep! This is getting quite frustrating given that I don't usually have this problem. But I think I've messed up my body clock and can only get to bed around 4 or 5 am. Which doesn't help when I have to be up around 6 am to get to work. Grrrr. Watch out for el groucho this week.

Suddenly thought about Aidan when I happened to find a birthday card I was in the midst of writing (from 2005...and unfinished as at June 2008). The Sennheiser headphones, the figurines, the cup, the rock (haha). And then thoughts about other matters...argh.

Even reading a book doesn't help...how!

Ok I'm going back to lie in bed somemore.

Today is the day!

So later at 2 pm...contracts will be signed and keys will be exchanged. And I will be a first home owner!

My very own apartment...wheeee.....

except.

My tenants don't move out til 10 Dec 08 and I will need to do some minor renovations before I can move in. And if I don't get it done before Christmas...I'll be in the US! so won't be moving in til June 2009 :( wah lau, a bit anti-climatic.

And here comes mortgage stress. Argh.

I also need to find 1-2 tenants to move in cos that would obviously contribute to the mortgage. No point having a 3 bedroom apartment all to myself eh...

But eh, I have my very own apartment! Housewarming probably next year! hahaa

The countdown begins

The 3 month secondment to an office in the US of A has now been confirmed and I will be leaving just after the new year (I think, dates aren't firmed up yet). Don't know which office I will be posted to.....*fingers crossed*!

Anyway, Sup and I have purchased additional annual leave...I've now purchased 4 weeks of annual leave (PAAL), which means my net income will be erm....a bit lower. But I have 4 weeks! And I'm hoping that I work diligently enough to get TOIL (ie overtime leave). Well, I'll make sure I push it anyway....2 weeks of TOIL, 4 weeks PAAL and about 2 weeks of accrued annual leave....2 months of travels! Yay

Except I haven't worked out if I can afford it. But nevermind, that is secondary....travel first! Could be a while before I leave the country again. Haha

So say about 1 mth in US/Canada (to visit Nicky)...then 1 mth with Sup and Aman in Europe. Not sure how I'm going to fit Singapore/Malaysia in there...but will make it back to visit Mel (and baby Zac!) and a few others. I've noticed that my list of people to catch up with tends to dwindle over the years, but I guess that's the reality of life and something which I've come to accept.

Hm. No money....how how.

When will this ever end....NEVER!

Hmm the end of another weekend :(

This is precisely why I dislike Sundays....pre-Monday blues!

Well been an enjoyable weekend overall......out late on Friday night then back home for some shut-eye. Woke up at 1.30 pm and realised we had guests! Argh...so went back to the room to isolate myself for a bit. Then got a call to go out for coffee and headed over to Neutral Bay / Mosman. Not very far at all...just a bit ex-xy given the $5 ED toll on the way there, and a $3 Harbour tunnel toll on the way back. Dinner in the city and then back to hang at Gerald's place. Not a late night given a few people had committed themselves to a 9km fun-run the next morning. Missed morning church (most of it anyway) due to me being lazy and my siblings taking turns to hog the shower for a good 45 min.

Now in office trying to get my personal development plan for FY 2009 done but erm got distracted.
Am doing some client work but my business plan needs to be done! It's so overdue that I'm already in trouble. Hmmm....

I foresee this week to be a long one....2 jobs commencing concurrently with one of my teams up at the Hunter Valley. Which means I will need to call them every other day to get status updates, and then catching up with the partner to discuss any issues etc. But gonna be a little hard given I'm out at another client with a brand new team. AAhhhh....

Looking forward to the next weekend!

And the matter draws to a close

What is the 'right' way to end a friendship?

If it's not due to an argument (where you'd presumably just stop talking to each other if it was serious enough), or some other form of falling out....what is the socially acceptable thing to do?

"I think it's not working out. Let's just not be friends."

I think there comes a time where one has to be selfish about such things. Perhaps? Let's not rush things and regret further down the track, eh?

A quick update

Quite a bit has happened in the last couple of weeks and I didn't really want to announce anything prematurely. But the time has come to tell people I guess.

No...not pregnant, or getting married, or anything of the sort.

But I am now (almost) a home-owner. Contracts have been exchanged and settlement is in approximately 5 weeks. As at 6 October 2008, I will be a landlord with 4 tenants in my "new" apartment. In Maroubra. Apparently near the beach (I know it is, but I haven't been to Maroubra beach for years). Next to Pacific Square shops, gym etc. Near bus stop to city. Near UNSW. So close to Jan/Mer's new unit we're practically neighbours.

I won't be moving in until late December or sometime next year, and even so...I am hoping to rent out 2 of the 3 bedrooms. So if you're planning to come visit Sydney, let me know and I might be able to fit you in! Haha..if not, the living room is quite large too! Or my room even :)

Quite exciting and yet quite daunting at the same time. I'm not sure how it'll be like financially...yes, despite being an accountant, I am very bad with my personal finances (eeks...3 years of tax returns to lodge with the ATO). Hopefully this forces me to be more careful with my money and actually save some of my salary.

However, this also means I may find it a lot harder to travel around the world as I have been meaning to do for the longest time. So if I hear some good news from work in the next few weeks, I might be doing some planning for my next big (and hopefully not final) overseas trip!

Hmm okay, back to work!

(Note: Actually I am still at work cos I didn't achieve very much during the day....they recently imposed this ban on facebook (understandable, and I don't really mind) and the use of head/earphones (WHY WHY WHY!!!) during work hours. As the office is open-planned, I couldn't concentrate or focus on work cos I kept hearing all these phone conversations and other random conversations/noises around my work station. So I got distracted and spent a bit of time wandering around the office floor. Haha. The price I pay for not being to concentrate and motivate myself.)

My eyes are a bit tired actually, so might go home in a bit.

4 more days...

Pay day! I can't wait....

Can't sleep again...hmm.

My feet should be so happy...

...that I seem to enjoy shopping a little too much.
2 new pairs of shoes within 2 weeks of my return to Sydney (despite buying a whole load of stuff on my 4 week long break)