February

February, I mean wow. Still feeling like a broken record but heh i hadn't caught up with 2008 yet & the first month of 09 is gone...I mean HELLO.

ok so another Monday! I can handle it, I can, really I can ok I have to keep telling myself that. :o/

I'm not sure if its the working thing I'm not that into, this job in particular or the fact its flat out busy ALL THE TIME now, but anyway it has me thinking of looking for another job. BUT, (there's always a but isn't there?), in order for me to do that I'd have to apply for a different visa to stay in Australia, cos the visa I currently have my company sponsored me so I have to stay working here basically. It also begs to ask in the current economic climate what if I'm let go or the company closes? I'll be in the same position. So I'm going to apply for this different visa which lets me work for whoever I want or should I say whoever will employ me :oD. But its such a pain there are loads, I mean LOADS of forms to fill out every single bit of your life is scrutinised & you need certified documents for EVERYTHING. I mean i understand for national security & all that but when you're a pretty normal average everyday person with no funny business in the past, like me, its kind of a pain. But what can you do?

So along with being busy in work I'm trying to get all my school & college certs organised from home so I can do a skills assessment. Fun. & get this, it takes 8 weeks for them to do the skills assessment & then I've to fill out all the forms for the visa itself & could be waiting 6 months!! The joy. But I'll just plod on cos I do want to stay here for a bit longer anyway, the economy at home is pretty bad at the moment, everyone is telling us we should stay here for another while. I'm just not a fan of form filling. Is anyone?

I did a whole heap of sorting at the weekend of all the clutter I mentioned before, so that felt good to get that out of the way. I was also playing with my new photo printer & some stitching software I'd gotten recently but hadn't had a chance to try out. It basically lets you stitch together shots of the same scene & puts it into a panoramic view, its pretty cool. I'd taken a sunset picture of Sydney harbour bridge & another further along of the opera house & I'd been trying for ages to get them photoshopped together but could never get it just right that you couldn't see the lines cos the sky was so many different shades of oranges, pink & blues. So I decided to try this software out. & it was SO COOL. you just pick the photos you want to paste together & it blends it for you, its so cool I was so pleased all day with my cool photo. I must put a copy up to show you.

What else did I do? oh yeah I treated myself(well with a voucher I'd gotten from S for my birthday) to a manicure & pedicure, it felt so nice to be pampered I don't normally bother, just do it myself but it felt so nice.

It was really hot at the weekend but not as bad as its been down in Victoria & South Australia, major heatwave at the moment, think it reached nearly the 50's at one point & thats oC. wow. It got to 41oC in Sydney a coupe of weeks ago & that was too much for me I'm not used to that kind of heat at all.

Well being month end and all I'd better get back to work. I'll try be more social tomorrow, today's a bit of a write off cos I'm tired, I stayed up to watch the Australian Open final between Federer & Nadal, it was so good. Nadal got it in the end but it was amazing.

Anyway have a good one. :oD

Few More Pics

I really need to think of a new heading. I'm not being very creative. lol


Anyway here is a bit of a visual of where we walked through at the National park on Sunday.



This was the view for most of the walk























This was the trail path we were following











These were everywhere, very pretty







Yes it looks dark cos it was getting dark at this stage & with the canopy of the trees, it seemed much darker. We came across this tree with a big hole through the middle, it was pretty cool & just to give you an idea of how big it was, that's me standing in the middle of it & I'm 5'10.



This was very eerie, I was taking a picture of the tree from the other side & this mist came through & I was like.....what the hell! Then figured it S was

standing next to me & had breathed out just at the second I took the picture so while we couldn't see it the camera picked up the heat of this breath. How mad!

Phots Part 3

Check out the teeth of these & these lads. hehe

Few bears chilling out. You do get the impression they're thinking 'lunch' when they look at you. This picture doesn't really do them justice they are HUGE.

The red panda's were so cute but very shy & hard to photo

This is the view of Sydney from the zoo. Nice huh?

Well hope you enjoyed the few pic I finally managed to get up. Its really been a mad week for me, not a spare second. I'm really looking forward to the long weekend & a bit of a break. No plans as of yet for the time off, planning on taking it easy.

I saw this quote today & I found it quite inspiring especially since I've been feeling a bit over-whelmed.

'Great things are not done by impulse but by a series of small things brought together' - Vincent Van Gogh.

Something to think about when it all seems too much.

Anyway hope you all have a brilliant Easter & eat loads of chocolate.

Catch up

I didn't get a chance to catch up on my weekend so will do that now.

Ok Sat - so we went to the Taronga Zoo, we caught the ferry over - I mean how cool is that to catch the ferry over Sydney harbour to the zoo? It was perfect day to be out & about. It took us bit longer than planed to get packed up & out so we didn't have as much time in the zoo as we'd have liked but it was still a great day.

What stole the show for me was the chimps, they were hilarious. They had two young chimps & honestly they were exactly like children, playing & messing about. Then you'd have an adult get up & give them a swipe to stop. Then one would start showing off by doing rolls for the crowd. It was so funny. I took some pics - promise promise promise will have them up this week.

I have to say I got totally freaked by the amount of spiders in the trees, they were huge. But I have to assume not poisonous since they were everywhere. They had these huge webs built up in the trees over where the paths were so you had to walk under them & I was convinced it was going to drop on me. Sad but true what can I say I' don't like spiders. Having said that I did take few pics of them too.

We had out picnic on a little stretch of beach beside the zoo, it was lovely especially cos we were starving by that time. Really nice relaxing day.

Sunday - got up early (whats that about on a Sunday?? ha ha) to go to the photography class in Centennial park. It went really well. I had been a bit frustrated with it cos I wasn't getting the whole exposure/aperture/shutter speed thing to do what I wanted. I would see something & want to get it captured the way I was seeing it but it wasn't working so I was getting bit frustrated with the whole thing. I was beginning to think I'd never get the hang of it. I had tried it out loads at the zoo too but wasn't exactly the picture I wanted so I was really glad we had the class today so i could ask the questions while they were still fresh in my head.

So he explained some stuff to me so think its finally sinking in. He brought his three dogs with him as models. We were practising movement shots & that. He'd set up situation with the dogs & tell us what we should be looking for etc & then go around & see how we got on & explain why some worked & the problems with others & more importantly (for me anyway) how to correct them.

So my faith in myself is restored & I'll keep trying to get it right. I'm not a good learner, I'm very impatient with myself i want to know how to do it 'now'.

So after that we headed down to Picton to met up friends up from Melbourne. It was great seeing them again. The competitions actually didn't start til Monday they were all just training but that was still good to watch. So I registered, got my rig all checked out & got my drop zone brief & I was all set. Shane (my husband) had jumped there before so he'd gotten that done already. We chatted for a bit with our mates & caught up with all the news.

After a bit Shane says 'so come on we'll go jump'. So sucked it up & said Ok. Kate said she'd jump with us, we would do a three-way. Like I said I haven't jumped since Oct so was bit nervous. I knew I'd be fine once the door opened & you're out its all good its the initial nerves get you when you're not current (ie haven't jumped in awhile). After all you are jumping out of a plane. :o)

But it went brilliant it was such a beautiful day & it was so warm up there & you could see the coastline. We jumped at 13,000 feet we managed one point before breakaway. Sweet opening & no problems so headed back to DZ. There is nothing like being under canopy 1000feet in the air, it is THE most peaceful feeling in the world. Awwhh sigh! It was great the views up there were AMAZING. I really would recommend it to everyone, it should be something everyone does once in their life. And I even stood up my landing! yeah me!. I have a perchance on landing on my ass as I'm still learning but all good, I was proud of me.

So after that headed out for food with John & Kate(our friends) & about 10 other skydivers. Went to a really nice little restaurant near the train station in Picton & had fab dinner, good laugh too. We headed home after that. It wasn't too late when we got home about 11.15pm but it had been a long day. So we literally unpacked the car, dumped the stuff & fell into bed.

I have to say its been the best weekend I've had in awhile. A good for the soul kind of weekend.

Weekend Plans

Its been a mad hectic week for me in work so I've missed a few days of blogging. Which I'm trying not to do cos if I'm not consistent then I'll just stop, like so many other things I've let slide. Its something I don't like about myself & I'm trying to change. its hard to change your behaviours, they are just so ingrained & not budging without a fight. ;o)

Anyway the weather is supposed to be excellent for the weekend. Apparently its gale force winds & raining at home (Ireland) but sure no surprise there.

So plans for the weekend are, try not to kill my tomatoes & plant them in separate pots. We're going to the zoo on sat, I'm going to pack a picnic & bring it with us. Being vegetarian I never have many options at these places & always end up with chips -- boring. And they are usually very over-priced. I'm actually really looking forward to going, it brings out the child in me what can I say.

Then on Sunday, the photography course I'm doing is having the class in Centennial Park so going to that, really looking forward to being outside taking photos with the teach as up til now they've been conducted in the classroom. So it'll be good practice that he's there to ask stuff to about lighting, exposure & all that stuff I'm only learning about.

That's just for couple of hours in the morning & after that we're heading to Picton(South Sydney) as a friend of ours from Melbourne is competing in the 8 way skydiving Australian national competitions. So that should be fun, we'll watch the competition & maybe I'll do a jump. I haven't jumped since Oct so it'll be good to get back in the air again. I only have 75 jumps & really want to get my jump numbers up. This is one of the things I've let slide & really want to get back into cos it's so much fun!!! Falling at 120mph straight down. You can't get much freer than that.

Its not that I intentionally let things slide as I'm just pondering on the 'why'. Its more that life just gets in the way or something else happens & before I know it a month has past. Actually been saying that for the past year. The time is just flying by. I try to fit in as much as I can & enjoy it to the full but its a big world out there & still so much I'd like to do. I love travelling & seeing new places & people & experiencing their different cultures & traditions. It really is fascinating to me.

So in case I don't get a chance to post at the weekend, I hope you all have a great one & the thought for the weekend?

Get out there & do something you're afraid off......maybe try a skydive. :o)

Above all stay positive & keep smiling if nothing else it'll make people wonder what you're smiling at. LOL.