Noel & I just got back from a weekend away in the country. It was so lovely & relaxing, just what we needed; I'm not used to sitting down with a book, in front of a warm wood-fire and just reading, without doing 5 other things at once. I read most of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister this weekend, and worked on my own story; we took our laptops with us, and dubbed it a "writers weekend", though I read more of other people's words than composing my own. But the point of the weekend was to get away from the real world for a couple of days and relax, and we did just that.

I always love the fact that Noel packs more than I do when we go away.

I have some 12-hour days to do at work this week, and then uni starts back up again the Monday following, so I'm sorry if it seems like I am never around. It's that time thing, as always, but I'm trying to keep up.

I had my last exam for the semester this afternoon, and now I'm on a break from uni for a month. It feels like I am returning to the land of the living. I am actually looking forward to returning to work next week; I'm rather sick of my own company this week, as I've been hunched over my desk studying (though probably not as much as I should have). I am definitely ready for some free time.

Things I am planning to do this month:
x. Continue writing the stories I have started; I am trying to write 2 books at the moment, and would really like to get a lot more done this month. I've missed creative writing
x. Catch up on writing letters, always something that falls to the backseat during the semester
x. Spend time with Noel, hopefully we are going to go away one weekend when we don't have the kids and just have some alone time together (very much needed)
x. Finish reading some of the many books I have started (if I can finish at least 4 books that would be fab :])
x. Finish watching the Season 2 of Skins, though I must admit I only watch it for the Cassie scenes
x. Spend time with Jess and catch up with other friends
x. Learn to cook a few more different meals
x. Work on some of my journals/scrapbooks
x. Start reading Tarot cards again

... too many things get neglected during the semester.

I need inspiration, and pretty things right now.

I am way too stressed out at the moment :[

"How do we know who we are or what we can become? We tell ourselves stories. The stories we tell are what we know of ourselves. We are a creation, a product of our own minds, a pastiche of memory, fear, desire... All I have is today, this moment to work with. I am writing my story as I go. I am inventing myself one moment, one experience, at a time.

And that's alright. It means I can choose who I become. It means I can write my future. I can create a person, write a story, full of hope."


Madness - Marya Hornbacher

I am feeling happy & productive today; 2 hours of working on my management accounting assignment before breakfast :] Even though I have been tempted the whole time to catch up on watching episodes of Gossip Girl instead, haha.

April has been a fabulous month. Starting my new job and still loving it every day (though we have end-of-month reporting next week; I might be thinking differently after that, as it's always a stressful time for finance), feeling blessed by the warm sun that still graces our skies even though we're heading into winter. Noel & I have been spending some wonderful quality time together, and that's not always an easy thing to do when there are assignments to be done, kids to look after, jobs to focus on, but somehow this month, we've been managing. My friends were talking about their ideas of the perfect guy last night, and I felt very lucky to have Noel in my life. I hope he knows that.

Catching the train into work has given me plenty of time to lose myself in the pages of books; I've read so many this month, though mostly all rereads, and particularly of Francesca Lia Block books. I have received a few comments from Lori Precious, the director of the Weetzie Bat movie, in response to mine, and they always make me happy. I am definitely a fangirl when it comes to FLB and anything associated with her; comments from the director of her upcoming movie completely make my day. It's almost up there with meeting Tori Amos!

I am reading "The Hobbit" at the moment and adoring it; I finally caved in and ordered this 12 disc Extended trilogy boxed set of dvds from Amazon (after longing for it for months) last week. 6 discs are the extended versions of the movies, the other 6 discs are behind-the-scenes, making-of featurettes, etcetc, which I love as much as the films themselves. I don't even have time to watch them, at least not the movies at once, but maybe I can learn to study to it or something. The featurettes will be perfect for after work when Noel & I are scouring the tv book, looking for something decent to watch for an hour. I am excited; reading about the pre-production of The Hobbit movie has reignited my love for Middle Earth.

Dad would have loved this box set too. We saw all the movies together, he & I, every year after Christmas. Maybe he'll be watching these ones with us too.

Lovely things from April: seeing the Foo Fighters perform on Thursday night (amazing show! - photos soon, hopefully), actually being social and catching up with friends, becoming addicted to Gossip Girl, Ben getting into the football development squad he badly wanted to make, long drives with Noel and fish & chips by the beach, enjoying my job and my coworkers, discovering new music to love, Australian Rosemount Fashion Week starting on Monday, Mum & my sister going on holidays and actually being relaxed. I got 2 assignments back recently, both with High Distinctions, and right now, I am just really enjoying life, and feeling blessed with everything around me.