the sheepish return. (baa)

yes, yes, i know i have been away a *tad* longer than i planned on being away. you see, it's just that my new e-love, facebook, is ever-so-demanding of my e-time, and it's so much more reciprocal than this quasi-journal.

i was thinking i might just start back in like i'd never left off, but that wouldn't fit my (slightly rigid) appreciation of continuous timeslines, so i shall summarise as follows.

there have been parties. lots of them. fun ones.

some were so good, sam forgot how to show how hardcore she is ;-)

my biggest thrill was rich's extra leave, which we used to travel to and around beeeauuutiful northern queensland.

i am proud to say that, under my careful instruction:

i managed to do the unthinkable, and turn him into a bogan!




















...now how do i change him back? ;-)


there was the school 10-year reunion which i considered avoiding... 10 years is a terribly long time after all, to look back and think .. "how can i still not know what 8 x 7 is?"
i am glad i went in the end, it was fun to catch up with all the old gals, and remember that i have AWESOME taste in friends ;-)














i hadn't aged at all since walford days.















then it was back to work and the ever-warmer weather. being in brisbane, where life is lived outside, this meant sun-filled gatherings.

and just to keep us on our toes, there were also hikes to be had in the glasshouse mountains, and fraser island to be explored over a delicious 5 day 'weekend' ;-)

the fraser crew

champagne pools














kat surveying indian heads

my foot [hearts] lake mckenzie

ely creek

it was a great trip. fraser has the most diverse (and beautiful surrounds) of any place i've seen in australia.

but then, i decided to quit my job and move state. BAM. crazy? like a FOX. but there would always be time for one more island trip. this one was with IMB crew, and it was to straddie island.

representin' gunning, straddie siiide

too-roo, brissie!

holiday hiatus

g'day y'all, i'm on holidays for a few weeks, but when i get back, this space will be full of colourful pics :-)

party hardy

once again it seems to be party time.
first up it was ames' birthday, for which we went to an excellent restaurant. it's who's birthday? ammmmmyyyyy's!:



















the birthday girl

































after dinner we headed round to the alibi room, where they stock board games. operation was unfortunately out of batteries, and probably wouldn't have been the best choice after a fair few dinner drinks, so it was time for a bit o' pictionary. this is where we met tree. he's a dirty, dirty boy, and managed to make every word about something dodgy. but then again, sam wasn't the most pure either - a *wizard's sleeve* sam?? honestly.

yes, be ashamed girl!














at least it wasn't the 'klansman' that tree accused her of drawing ;-) this is tree on the left of the pic. he looks suitably shifty here!














johnny english's birthday was next. it was a fun night with a few noticable gaffes, sam asking "who IS jonathan??" and an unfortunate comment by one of jon's friends who we met on the night regarding his attitude towards ladies of the night. better people than us would have let it slide, but we never really said we were good people... :-) it was also exciting in that i met ashley, who studied biotech at flinders uni as well. i was in the middle of saying that her name didn't sound familiar until suddenly i realised (and shouted) "you're GIRL ashley!" which was probably self-evident to everyone else there, but was the way we referred to her all through uni (in our defence, there was also a boy ashley, and our system avoided a lot of confusion...)

beginning of the night: southbank














then dancing up a storm at the story bridge hotel:













with GIRL ashley!














and then... far far later in the night. sore heads all round the next day. except for you hash, you smug bastard.














then nige's farewell! i was upset to lose studmuffin, just because he wants to trek around the world and volunteer in africa. why must he be so selfish and leave us?? i'm a little disappointed in him.
his party was rubiks cube themed, encouraging a lot of lounge room stripping (all part of his plan i'm sure :-) ) here was our humble house before we left... yes, that night we were ALL coloured people ;-)


















and pre-party experimentation: when my hair straightener meets sam's afro:














and kat's hair. now that's a powerful straightener!



















at the party: mid-swap. yes, hash is obsessed with his man boobs.














post swap!


































studmuffin with bridamo. bon voyage darls, travel safe and come back soon!

a festival for cheese? *whey* not?

awhile ago the cheese festival was held near us in brisvegas. since we live with sam, we knew that such a festival must be attended by us. there was a myriad...ermm...plethora...? lots. there were lots of cheeses. dammit, my grammar is appalling. not you, grandma. sigh.

it was a lovely winter's day, just sunny enough for hash to crack out his squint, see?















and for kat to break out her "again with the camera?" expression ;-)















some of the stalls were staffed entirely by precocious children:














which suited us quite well.



















in fact, this was the most confronting thing we encountered all day:














bless you brisbane, by the end of the day we were very cheesy indeed.














oooooh, how about this for an alternate title - all cheese, no whine!
brilliant.

saturday shennanigans

nothing like a no-occasion dinner to make people a little less inhibited!

first, take a bunch of lovely friends,














add a bottle of wine each,














and just a smidge of attitude.



















result: a whole suite of incriminating photos that are hard to live down... here are some tamer ones!

reunion in radelaide

ok, i have a confession to make. i have been unfaithful to my blogspot. and even worse, it was on many, many occasions, and ... it was good. really good. facebook is my obsession these days. just so easy, and fun and... well, i know it's not an excuse, but blogger has been kind of letting itself go a bit lately, and my mouse finger surely can't be blamed for wandering. where did the magic go?
however, i will hang my head and go back to my original, blogger. we have, after all, had the history. just don't check my cache, ok? ;-)
ok so very old news, but i went back to adelaide awhile ago to catch up with my sister and hubby before they went back to england, and also with my family and radelaide friends.
first up: dinner out with some mates










amazing what you can find in the chans' car!


































the chans of evilness














bye to luce and kev. check out kev's form in the background ;-) and THEY'RE soon to be responsible parents! the kid will have fun growing up anyway....














then some quality time with the lovlies... cleo
















and irrepressible sula :-)










































then i went down to the bay with ali and rich. it was a little chilly, but nothing beats sunset over the water there.





























































ali's hero :-)















and now a couple of extras from rich...

ali and myself at the beach...













rich and myself at dinner... ali must have caught me at the wrong second..or..something...

'cos i'm a karaoke queen....

stress levels have been high lately so when sam and kat's cousin corey came back to brisbane, a trip to fat luey's karaoke joint to belt out some tunes was welcomed...


























































holllld me now, it's hard for me to say i'm sorry...















touching you.....?




















touchin' MEEeeee!















if rhyme was a drug i'd sell it by the gram yo















mama mia let me go...















i've been to paradise, but i've... never been - to me...















i was gonna clean my room, but then i got high....















drove my chevy to the levy but the levy was dry....















whatever i said, whatever i did...















...[this song had a disturbing soft-porn-esque videoclip... a beefcake in never-nudes writhing around. hence corey's disturbed look...]















therese and myself making a vegemite sandwich out of hash
















awwww....

hash and kat realise they are both wearing matching leather jackets... and do their best at catalogue modelling...
would YOU buy a leather jacket from people like this?? ;-)

dylan moran and balmy brisbane

until recently, it's been bee-autiful in brisbane. i've even kept doing the "and it's WINTER!" exclaimation every time i can traipse outside in singlets. of course, now it's blowing a gale and dropped down to 9 last night (oh the humanity) but for awhile there, we had it good. one such night, there was another festival on in brisvegas... perhaps the buddha cheese jazz wine zorba festival? oh they all blend into one. it was also the night of dylan moran, a funny lad. we've all appreciated him on black books, and when he came to bris, we had to show our appreciation. i was a little freaked out that he has a kid, as sam said "would you trust him alone with it? you'd get back and the baby would be DRUNK..." and that's coming from sam, someone who was watching an ad for baby tylenol and said "... oh, come on, if your baby had a fever, you'd just put it in the freezer." [we stare at her] "wouldn't you?.... i mean, just for a bit." [staring continues] "you could leave the door ajar". ahh.














we weren't even there yet and sam was coming over all alcoholic















kat and i tried a 'drunken sam' but failed















and it's WINTER!

puppy power

wee-hee-heel, i may have been slack in updating my blog recently but now that i've got a trillion assignments due, i've enlisted the power of procrastination. this is a mighy mighty power and so voila, another post. also, i've deep conditioned my hair and painted my nails. if only my essays were being given so much consideration.
a couple of weeks ago, in need of some distraction, i went with mel, annie and the girls to the beach (the girls are her dogs, more beloved than any human could be). it was great to be able to play with some pups again, especially as gorgeous as these ones...






























































noooo asha!














and now a couple of bits of local news that tickled my fancy...
i heard this on the radio on the way to work today: "and in traffic news, look out for speedcatchers on logan road and sir fred schonell drive. also, there are cows on the ipswich motorway and watch out for horses and indians on the M1 [ad break]". errrmmmm???

and a good political argument regarding keating's call for sydney to be australia's capital:
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said if Australia was settled now, Brisbane would probably be the capital because of its closeness to Asia and access to water.
"Brisbane is the place to be, Sydney knows that. We won the State of Origin and I think that Brisbane is the capital."
[who knew the outcomes of rugby games were so crucial in politics...?]
the NSW premier responded with logic and facts:
"Sydney is the capital of Australia in the sense it's ...the best city in the country".
ohhh, ok then.

work blues (but mainly reds and blacks)

our lab head, the big cheese (aka the cheesy one) is leaving our fair lab in order to venture over to chilly scotland and be an even bigger cheese (a wheely big cheese..cheese wheel? will you pay that? c'mon...). this has paved the way for matto to become the new lab... cheddar. the lab is downsizing however, and so farewells are the order of the day. none more so as last week when we had to have a power farewell breakfast, with 3 farewells in one go. so sad. on the day the cheesy one left, we all decided to dress up for him, in honour of his favourite footy team, the bombers. i think we intimidated or confused a few people at work or on the way to lunch but he was touched :-)














just opened up this pic on large screen and noticed adi/dr. love in the back row. is that what makes all the ladies fully sick for him? ;-)

still, most of my projects aren't working, people are leaving, there are deadlines popping up left right and centre... so yesterday was an ideal time for mel to get a new toy on her computer and for us to waste a good hour messing around and giggling stupidly with the 'iPhotobooth' program ...















barbie weber














not-so-barbie weber














cleetus claire, y'all














check out these guns! ka-POW!