The Waiter

Tonight I made a discovery! A waiter can make or break a meal! Seriously its true… think about it. Tonight I had the pleasure of helping Brad celebrate his birthday by having dinner in the city. The meal was great, the company was great and the waiter was great. In fact the waiter was so good I think he made my night! But before I go much further, I think we need to go back to the basics…

There are 3 types of waiters/waitresses in the world:
1. Bad ones
2. Good ones and
3. Great ones

That’s it, there aren’t any in between ones or ones that fit into any other category, its just these 3. Everyone knows what a bad waiter is… they are the ones that forget what you order and don’t seem to care. The don’t go out of their way to assist, they leave you unattended at all the wrong times and they are just bad. Sometimes they are nice, sometimes they are not…but regardless, they are bad!

The good ones are generally the ones that go unnoticed. They are not fantastic, but they are not bad, they get the job done and at the end of the night you leave with out giving them too much more thought.

And then there is the great ones, the ones that are super helpful, without being in your face, they say all the right things, don’t forget anything and at the end of the night you want to leave them a tip. Sometimes its helps if they have a cool accent or are particularly good looking, but I think that one of the best things about the great ones is they take in the ‘vibe’ of the dinner and behave accordingly.

Tonight we had a great waiter! It did help that he was French and had a very sweet story about moving here to be with his girl friend, but even without that stuff, he was happy to have a laugh with us, to have a good time, but still do what he needed to do. I don’t really know how to describe it…he had a go at kitty for taking to long, which was very funny and super accurate, he made us sing happy birthday and found a biscuit he could put a candle in because we weren’t having dessert, he cracked some jokes, made us all smile and he even took a photo of out table all together!  He was just great and at the end of the night, all of us wanted to show him how much we appreciated him and his service. Anyway, I guess I just wanted to say kudos to that guy…thanks for making it a fun evening…

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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Half marathon

So the training has started, luckily the half marathon is still a good 6 months away because after this mornings gym session I think I am going to need all the time that I can get!

This morning I met Jana at the gym, yes that gym that I signed up for with all the best intentions and then never really returned! Anyway we began the journey, the only thing is Jana is quiet a bit fitter than me, which isn't really that hard to imagine, given the fact that all I have done since the last half marathon is a SYG and and few random basketball games and not much else. This means that this morning as we trained together I felt like needed to prove myself just a little, you know, back my tale of my last half marathon up so that it didn't seem as unrealistic as it sounded. So needless to say I went pretty hard, and despite the fact that I only walked/ran for 3.5km... I already have blisters and very sore quads and I am a little worried that this is a bad sign! Sure perhaps I went a bit hard for my first time back in the saddle, but if I am this injured after 1/7th of the race than chances are I might struggle. But I have 6 months and I am not giving up yet! I have another hot date with Jana and the gym on Friday morning... So I better find better socks so I don't get anymore blisters!

Oh and just in case you needed proof... here are the mighty half marathoner's after our last race... don't we look spiffy! 

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Thanks Jess

Tonight I had the pleasure of having Dusty, Jess and Brad up to visit. Last time they came up I got a little embaressed, because all around my house I have photos, but to my shock Jess brought to my attention the fact that there were no photos of her. Now some of you may say big deal...but it is, because I even had a picture of Jacob's ex girlfriend still up and they were only together for a short time, Jess has been part of our family for like 4 or 5 years or something crazy, so as you can imagine, I felt really bad, and of course Jess and Dusty didn't want me to forget.

So this time, when I knew they were coming, because I hadn't had anymore photos printed, I told Jess to bring a photo with her so that she could go on the wall. So today Dusty, Jess and Brad drove up from Melbourne during the day and made it to my place and made themselves at home before I got home from work. So being a good sister-in-dating I sent Jess and sms just to remind her that she should bring a photo with her... and this is the response I got in response...

"Oh u don't have to worry about that, I have it covered! Have a lovely day at work and we will c u later on!!!"

Being a little cheeky at times, Jess' text made me a little worried, I started to wonder what exactly she meant by the fact that she had it covered and what I would find when I got home. I thought that perhaps she would take down all the photos and replace them with ones of her, or maybe even just replace some of the photos, with the same photo of her and Dust, but what happened was definitley unexpected. This is what I found when I got home:

Yep lots of little photos everywhere, and one massive photo of jess right above the fire place. Classic, so thanks Jess, I think I have enough photos of you now, and yes you can stay on the mantle. Although Dave did tell me that he feels like you are watching him while he sits on the couch doing nothing now, I think it makes him feel guilty about being a slacker.

 

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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A New Type of Movie

Tonight I have once again been to the movies, this time I went with Mum, Dad, Dust, Jake and Dave and we saw 'Law Abiding Citizen' and if you want a good film review check out Philpy's rant, coz he does a much better job of that stuff than I do.  What I really wanted to say about the movie was that I that tonight's experience has made me realise something, something very important...

Generally speaking, I am a childrens and romantic comedy type of girl, in fact I rarely see anything out side those two genres, unless its like some massive blockbuster that I feel like I have to see just so I can keep up with conversation.  However, I think that after tonight I really need to put more effort in to deliberatly seeing other types of movies, because it turns out, I actually really enjoy them.  Sure they don't always make me feel super gooey on the inside, but more often than not, they actually make me think, which isn't such a bad thing!  It's werid coz I am always a little surprised by this, it always shocks me that the movie was actually good, but the thing is, it probably shouldn't, because if the movie was that bad...it probably would never have even made it to the cinema. 

So.... as of now, I am going to make a conscious effort to see some other types of movies...I probably still won't check out the latest horror, but I will definatly try to see something other than the new chick flick out. 

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Dexter's New Home

Well its been a little while since I posted a blog about my little dog and there have been a couple of reasons for this:

1. Nothing really that interesting has happened to him...he did go for his first swim at the beach but other than that, not much.

2. I figured that after the influx of posts when I first got him, it was only fair that I gave everyone a break and...

3. He hasn't been living with me. 

This last reason is something that I am a little sad about, because I love him to bits (despite our initial struggles) and I miss him stacks, none the less he is a very active dog and I have a very small house in which he has to get locked in all day because my landlord keeps letting him out and the poor little thing is just a puppy with no road sense. 

Anyway, over summer, and a little bit before that, Dex has been living with Mum, Dad, the boys and his new best friend, Harley and the two have been getting very attached to each other.  And while this has been good for them, because they have become good company for each other, eventually, when I get a bigger house, I would really like Dex to come back and live with me, but the more attached he gets to Harley the harder this will be to do.  So this week I have made a decision (well not just me, in-conjunction with the others involved, except Dex and Harley, because they are dogs and they can't talk), one that I think is best for both Dex and me.  Until I workout how to have Dexter up in Castlemaine, in order to prevent two very depressed little dogs, Dex is moving in with Dave. 

So last night, Dex spent his first night in his new place, and he looks pretty happy there... The other good thing about this arrangement is that Dave (or so he says) will bring dex up to visit sometimes, which is exciting because I really miss him.  I just hope that he is a good boy and doesn't destroy to much...

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Triple Date

Tonight I went on a triple date, a step up, or sideways, or something from the double date I got so excited about back in October, tonight's triple date was with Dusty and Jake and their girlfriends Jess and Cassie.  Its not something that I have done before, but it was nice.  In true dork style, we went out for dinner and then bowling, and I didn't even lose.

Anyway, it was nice to hang out with my brothers and their women, perhaps its something we should do more often...I guess it is a sign that we are all growing up, and soon, although not too soon I hope, I will be hanging out with my brothers and my sister-in-laws...crazy...who would have thought that these three kids...(please see photo to your left) would be out...in public... without their gameboys and with their significant others, bowling...crazy, imagine that...growing up.   

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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Back to work

Here is something that is probably exceedingly obvious...it really really suck to be going back to work while everyone else is still on holidays!  Its not that I don't like my job, I actually really like it, but the thing is, Mum, Dad, Jake, Dustin, Dave and most of my friends are still on holidays....everyone except me and I am not happy about it.

Oh and just to top it off, today I started on a new ward and it was nuts...busy busy busy and I didn't really know my way around, but I am sure I will get my head around it soon enough.

Anyway, the point of this blog is just to whinge...I wish I was still on holidays :(, I already told you I am not made for full time and I miss my 3 month uni break...

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Three's a crowd

So even though I live in a tiny house I still love to have people come and visit, but tonight I realized that my house isn’t made to have 3 people sleep there. Today Dusty and Jess drove up to Castlemaine for a visit. This was the first time Jess had seen my place and the second time for dusty, so I made sure everything was clean, I left a key out and made sure there was lots of coffee for Dust until I got home.

After a lovely dinner in Bendigo complete with a walk through the gardens with cold rock for dessert, we headed back to my place and watched a Christmas classic, Muppets Christmas Carol, Then we set up the beds, so I had my little spot up in the loft, Jess was on the couch and then Dusty was on a stretcher bed on the floor, but I tell you what there wasn’t much room left after that at all, it was very cozy. However, despite being on top of one another, it was a heaps fun night, complete with childhood reminiscing…it turns out Dusty and I have always been a little odd, well according to Jess anyway… I mean who else used to sing the decore shampoo add in the spa, using the bubbles as shampoo?

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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John Farnham

John Farnham is an Australian Legend and even though he is in his 60s he has still got it! Tonight I was lucky enough to go and see him in concert at the palisis with Mum, Dusty, Jake and Judy…now before you start whinging about ‘the last time’ two things…1. It was the name of the album he was touring and 2. It was the last time he did a massive right around Australian, including regional cities, tour…not the last time he was ever going to do a concert…and if you don’t like it…I don’t really care, just don’t whinge to me.

Anyway, to be honest, I was a little worried that he may have lost some of his stage presence, some of his pizzazz, or heaven forbid some of his voice…but no, he has still got it…seriously there is nothing like it, sitting there just soaking up the voice. It makes me a little said that this might actually be the last time I hear him live, I hope its not, but I just don’t know how much more he will do. The highlight of the night though was definitely when we belted out ‘You’re the voice’ and the crowd went wild…seriously wild. Its quite and interesting experience going to a John Farnham concert because the crowd is always such a mismatch of people, the old young, men and women, all shapes and sizes…it is clear to me that everyone loves Farnsey! Although it does get a little disturbing when the older ladies start throwing things onto the stage because you are just never sure what you are going to get!

I really do love him…and I hope he is around for a lot longer.

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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Wagga Wagga

Right as we speak I am on the road heading to Wagga Wagga in NSW, don’t worry Dusty is driving and I am on the computer. I am a bit excited about the trip actually, because fresh off the heels of Charlie and Boots I am ready to see Australia, but that’s not the reason we are going, we are heading north for a wedding, which you will hear more about as it happens. Although I have to admit that this is the longest period of time I think that I have ever spent with Dusty by myself, but I am sure with a little help from Farnsy, Barnsey and Elton we won’t kill each other.

Perhaps if I wasn’t driving with Dustin, who doesn’t seem to care much about the country or its little towns, I would have taken the opportunity to stop in some of towns with cool names that we have passed on the way like…Wandong or Longwood or Dookie.

Anyway, while we have been driving we have actually driven through a lot of the land that was effected by the massive bush fires earlier this year and although the black trees are a harsh reminder of the power and devastation of fire, it was also really amazing to see the regrowth happening too. It was refreshing to see the green, even though it was small slowly taking over the tops of the black trees, giving a bit of hope that life can restart after fire. It still amazes me how God can make something so damaged and broken into something new.


I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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Mr G

Today I made a fool of myself…which is not surprising, except for the fact that this time I brought down a 6year old kid with me.

Today was the Salvos Divisional Kids Big Day Out, so as Kids Church Coordinator I went along with the kids from Box Hill and everyone had a great time. Being a divisional event there were kids there from a number of different salvo corps, so naturally we had to where name tags, which the kids made themselves using a texta and a sticker…clever I know. Anyway, a few of the kids that came with Box Hill had brought friends along and trying to be a good leader I made it my business to introduce myself to each of them. This was working quite well until I came to a little girl whose name tag appeared to say ‘Mr G’. I took a moment to have a think about why the tag would say ‘Mr G’ and remembered that the adult she had come with (one of the kids Church parents) was named ‘Graham’, so I put what I thought was two and two together and figured that perhaps he was known as ‘Mr G’ and she was wearing his name tag. So in my wisdom I went up to her and introduced myself and asked if she was having fun, and then proceed to say… ‘I haven’t met you before, my name is Emma, what’s yours’ hoping to get some clarification on the ‘Mr G’ situation. However, it turned out she was a little shy, so she just looked at me and pointed at her name tag. So trying to be cool, and welcoming, I responded ‘Mr G, that says Mr G, that’s not your name is it?’ a little dumbfounded the little girl just looked at me and then at her name tag and pointed again. Very confused by this stage I repeated (just in case she hadn’t heard the first time) ‘Mr G? really?’ and still dumbfounded she looked at me and walked off. Feeling even more confused and a bit defeated I turned around only to find Dustin and Jess in fits of laughter…Jess then explained to me that the tag didn’t say ‘Mr G’ at all, it actually said ‘Meg’ and she had written it herself but she was only 6 and couldn’t write very well.

So feeling very embarrassed I went and found Meg to apologise, I explained that I couldn’t read very well and that I was sorry, but also suggested that perhaps well just called her ‘Mr G’ anyway, coz I was a pretty cool nickname. But she graciously declined. So the poor girl will probably never want to come back to Kids Church again, now that I have humiliated her, I didn’t mean it…and you think perhaps Dusty and Jess could have said something earlier…but never mind…in my heart she will always be Mr G.

Oh and just for the record…Kat came later on in the day and also thought the tag said Mr G…In fact you can make up your own mind...I have drawn a little picture of what the name tag looked like...tell me that doesn't say 'Mr G'...
I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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