Moving is hard work. I'm not just talking about the physical aspect, but the mental and emotional process as well. It takes you out of you comfort zone and forces you to step out and bare yourself. Which can be a very vulnerable position. So when I was invited to a ladies bible study movie night, I thought I have to doit. It wold be a great way to meet like minded people in a safe environment. The movie we were going to watch was Julie and Julia. I had mentioned to my friend J that I was going to see it, and as she had seen it herself the weekend before, she thought I would enjoy it. Just as I was leaving my house, she texted me. Watch out for the cannelloni part. Interesting, cryptic. Okay, I'll watch out for the cannelloni part.
We settled ourselves and just as the movie was about to begin, I casually asked if anyone had seen the movie before. Just one. My friend told me to look out for the cannelloni part, must be a funny scene with cannelloni. The movie begins. At some point there is a cannelloni scene. Oh, this must be the part J told me to look out for. Yes, I vocalised this to the lovely church going group. Now, because I intend to try and become part of this lovely church going group, I cannot mention any more about the cannelloni scene. If you've seen it, you'll know what I mean. Not exactly the thing you highlight. So, as things unfolded I gulped and then proceeded to sit there in stunned silence.Everyone else proceeded to sit there in stunned silence. It was just one of those moments. The movie continued and we pretended nothing happened. I badly wanted to explain. It's not my fault,. You see I have this friend...
What have I learnt from this episode? J is trying to sabotage my attempts to find friends here, making me an outcast in this small town and forcing my return to Adelaide. I am going to have to work hard to redeem myself. Lucky I love you J!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
So we survived the worst storm Melbourne has seen in a century by being busy trying on Daisy Duke shorts. How's that. I can't believe we missed it. We waded in sometimes shin deep water all the way back to the apartment. I have to tell you, it is very lucky I have a friend as reliable as J. Believing it to be a beautiful sunny day as I dressed in the morning, I wore my new bra (that J had bought me in Adelaide as I couldn't source them in my new home town. I was feeling particularly perky which made me realise I should replace my bras more often than every 5 years). No problems there. Lovely white t-shirt which is all well and great until you are walking home in the aftermath of the worst storm Melbourne has seen in a century. I kept asking J if all was in order and she kept reassuring me it was. But, alas, we arrived home and the mirror told me a different story! There is even photographic evidence which I am considering going to court over in order to prevent it from EVER appearing on J's facebook page.....
Drenched and numb from wading through water that resembled glacier water we rafted in in Alaska due to the hail, we arrived back at the apartment to discover that there was no hot water and only a tin of chicken soup for dinner. Not to be deterred, we dried out shoes in the oven, ate chicken soup by candlelight and got ready to see Mamma Mia without a shower. The flooding had closed a lot of the streets, but we were determined to make it there anyway. If we couldn't catch a taxi, we'd walk. We were on a mission. Fortunately we were able to catch a taxi not far from the apartment and we were able to get through.
. After the big event, we walked through Chinatown and back to the apartment. Then it was a couple of hours of talk, chocolate and bananas at 2am and stretching exercises (don't ask as I'm not sure I could explain). And that was it. Sunday home again and the 4 days in Melbourne was over. Back to reality. I mean I love my reality, the kids and all, but I miss the friendships I left behind in Adelaide. As I reflect, it's not just the Adelaide friendships I miss, but the many from our various residential locations. I know there are friends here as well that I will grow to love as much, but still, there is something missing. I guess it just gives me an excuse for lots more Melbourne weekends!
Drenched and numb from wading through water that resembled glacier water we rafted in in Alaska due to the hail, we arrived back at the apartment to discover that there was no hot water and only a tin of chicken soup for dinner. Not to be deterred, we dried out shoes in the oven, ate chicken soup by candlelight and got ready to see Mamma Mia without a shower. The flooding had closed a lot of the streets, but we were determined to make it there anyway. If we couldn't catch a taxi, we'd walk. We were on a mission. Fortunately we were able to catch a taxi not far from the apartment and we were able to get through.
. After the big event, we walked through Chinatown and back to the apartment. Then it was a couple of hours of talk, chocolate and bananas at 2am and stretching exercises (don't ask as I'm not sure I could explain). And that was it. Sunday home again and the 4 days in Melbourne was over. Back to reality. I mean I love my reality, the kids and all, but I miss the friendships I left behind in Adelaide. As I reflect, it's not just the Adelaide friendships I miss, but the many from our various residential locations. I know there are friends here as well that I will grow to love as much, but still, there is something missing. I guess it just gives me an excuse for lots more Melbourne weekends!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
What Storm?!
There is nothing more refreshing for the soul than a weekend away and especially a girls weekend in Melbourne. So that is what I did last weekend. J and I had been counting down for months this exciting weekend. We bought the tickets to Mamma Mia last year before we left Adelaide and I was so excited to see J again and just have some time out.
It is impossible for me to explain the kind of trouble J and I can get ourselves into without breaking our sacred code of silence "what happens in Melbourne stays in Melbourne". Lets just say that there were vinyl dresses, lots of sushi and chocolate and bananas at 2am involved in a very "fun" weekend. Of course, there were several special features put on just for us I'm sure. The Moonba festival was on as well as the biggest storm in living memory. No, I dont mean J and I shopping up a storm although that is exactly what we were doing when the storm struck. Well, I guess thats not theoretically correct. We were trying on clothes which we had no intention of buying. Wait a minute, let me backtrack. Back to lunch. We had sushi. Have I mentioned that last week I was having a crazed sushi craving, with no sushi to be found anywhere. So, I was determined to have an overload on sushi whilst in Melbourne to tie me over. So, we were eating sushi soaking up the sun and doing us a spot of people watching. Naturally we progressed to deciding to hit DJ's and try on a variety of outrageous outfits that we had no intentions of buying. In fact, the more outrageous the outfit, the more determined we were to try it on.
We entered the change rooms with our amazing selection of outfits, ranging from braless maxi dresses to daisy duke shorts. Okay, I feel a need to explain these shorts. They were short cut off denims that were covered with silver studs and cost $4oo. Not exactly what post 40 year women should be wearing, but definitely worth trying on for the entertainment value. Maxi dresses first. The psychadelic pattern looked amazing on J, really brought out her eyes. Actually, they longer she paraded in it, the more convinced I became that she should buy. Mine, on the other hand, lacked the special "something" necessary to convince me to buy it. It was either that or the fact that I had to go braless.Not sure which one, close call.
Anyway, we progressed to trying on the Daisy Duke shorts with some stunning black tops. As we pulled on the shorts a very loud noise began to resonate.
Me- "That sounds like rain. How could we hear the rain on the second floor of a 4 story building?"
J- "Not sure"
Noise gets louder, very loud.
Me- "That sounds like hail."
J- "I think it's just someone dropping a box of coathangers."
Me - "You think? It's pretty loud."
Whatever. The deafening noise wasn't going to deter us from trying on the Daisy Dukes, so we pressed on. We gushed at the fact that our legs looked good (LOL) and blushed at the thought that maybe we could pull them off. Did I mention that they were covered in studs which meant they weighed a tonne and would require some kind of brace system to keep them up. I mean really, ew could do this. But upon consideration, we decided that with a price tag of $400 we could possibly better utilise the combined $800 on something much more meaningful....such as another girls weekend.
So we handed over the garment to the room attendant- "You taking anything today girls?" "Hmmm, no today thankyou, the shorts were very flattering but we have decided to feed a third world country instead."
And then it hit us. We excited the change rooms to find that there must have been far more action outside than in as everyone pressed themselves against the windows. Not ones to miss out on action, we headed to the windows to realise that we had been transported into another world. Firstly, where there was previously a street, there was now a gushing stream. Where there was a sun beaten pavement, there were mounds of hail. We shook our heads. Were we dreaming? Apparently not.
"Umm, J....I don't think it was a box of coathangers..."
It is impossible for me to explain the kind of trouble J and I can get ourselves into without breaking our sacred code of silence "what happens in Melbourne stays in Melbourne". Lets just say that there were vinyl dresses, lots of sushi and chocolate and bananas at 2am involved in a very "fun" weekend. Of course, there were several special features put on just for us I'm sure. The Moonba festival was on as well as the biggest storm in living memory. No, I dont mean J and I shopping up a storm although that is exactly what we were doing when the storm struck. Well, I guess thats not theoretically correct. We were trying on clothes which we had no intention of buying. Wait a minute, let me backtrack. Back to lunch. We had sushi. Have I mentioned that last week I was having a crazed sushi craving, with no sushi to be found anywhere. So, I was determined to have an overload on sushi whilst in Melbourne to tie me over. So, we were eating sushi soaking up the sun and doing us a spot of people watching. Naturally we progressed to deciding to hit DJ's and try on a variety of outrageous outfits that we had no intentions of buying. In fact, the more outrageous the outfit, the more determined we were to try it on.
We entered the change rooms with our amazing selection of outfits, ranging from braless maxi dresses to daisy duke shorts. Okay, I feel a need to explain these shorts. They were short cut off denims that were covered with silver studs and cost $4oo. Not exactly what post 40 year women should be wearing, but definitely worth trying on for the entertainment value. Maxi dresses first. The psychadelic pattern looked amazing on J, really brought out her eyes. Actually, they longer she paraded in it, the more convinced I became that she should buy. Mine, on the other hand, lacked the special "something" necessary to convince me to buy it. It was either that or the fact that I had to go braless.Not sure which one, close call.
Anyway, we progressed to trying on the Daisy Duke shorts with some stunning black tops. As we pulled on the shorts a very loud noise began to resonate.
Me- "That sounds like rain. How could we hear the rain on the second floor of a 4 story building?"
J- "Not sure"
Noise gets louder, very loud.
Me- "That sounds like hail."
J- "I think it's just someone dropping a box of coathangers."
Me - "You think? It's pretty loud."
Whatever. The deafening noise wasn't going to deter us from trying on the Daisy Dukes, so we pressed on. We gushed at the fact that our legs looked good (LOL) and blushed at the thought that maybe we could pull them off. Did I mention that they were covered in studs which meant they weighed a tonne and would require some kind of brace system to keep them up. I mean really, ew could do this. But upon consideration, we decided that with a price tag of $400 we could possibly better utilise the combined $800 on something much more meaningful....such as another girls weekend.
So we handed over the garment to the room attendant- "You taking anything today girls?" "Hmmm, no today thankyou, the shorts were very flattering but we have decided to feed a third world country instead."
And then it hit us. We excited the change rooms to find that there must have been far more action outside than in as everyone pressed themselves against the windows. Not ones to miss out on action, we headed to the windows to realise that we had been transported into another world. Firstly, where there was previously a street, there was now a gushing stream. Where there was a sun beaten pavement, there were mounds of hail. We shook our heads. Were we dreaming? Apparently not.
"Umm, J....I don't think it was a box of coathangers..."
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