Mel's week (rather long winded)

Gee where do I start - I have done NOOOO stitching. Not one stitch - so much for my big plans :)

Last Monday we had 4 people off work - 2 on annual leave and 2 sick. I'm already doing the work of two people as I have all of my cataloguing, plus I've now been given the acquisitions work as that nitwit has taken a job out in a branch.

So Monday Tuesday Wednesday were taken up with my doing the most critical and urgent tasks of five positions. It wasn't stressful - but it was time consuming and exhausting. And I will still getting over the flu so I basically came home and crashed each night.

Thursday I finally caught up and all critical work finished by 5pm - YAY ! As my boss said "You rock Mel!" YAY! I also got to have Friday off :)

Thursday night (late night shopping) Paul and I went straight from work out to the nearest huge shopping centre and we shopped for his mum's birthday. As most of you know I had already stitched her up a bookmark, so I thought it would be kewl to buy her a book to slot the bookmark into.

And we did just that. As Paul is vegetarian, his mum is vegan and I (although a meat eater) actually eat more organic food than both of them, well we have some scintillating conversations about food and the environment. So when I saw this book just released, I knew I needed to buy it for her.

(Incidentally I bought a copy for the library at the same time and I'm now treading the library copy).

The book is: The Ethics of What We Eat

Good read so far!

Anyway where was I .... oh yes Thursday night. we then dropped into my favourite lingerie store which was having a sale .... oh dear - three sets of lingerie later Paul managed to haul me back out of there. We then went and bought clothes for his mum - Paul's present to her.

Came home - crashed out.

Friday I lined up a heap of houses to look at, did the domestic stuff of cleaning, washing, vacuuming mopping etc etc. You all know the drill Then I grabbed Paul and we went house hunting. Started off great - the first house is the one mentioned in the previous blog entry. Ended up badly. It was raining and cold and the last couple of houses ended up being on busy streets in failing light in peak hour traffic - and the streets were weirdly numbered in that suburb. We gave up on the last one - figured that if we couldn't find it then I didn't want it.

Went over to Paul's mums and gave her her gifts and had a long cup of tea! As expected she went gaga over the book. She flipped through it twice before she saw the bookmark and then she went gaga all over again! I love it when work is appreciated :):):):)

she loved the clothes Paul bought her and immediately went and tried them all on. She loved one pair of trousers so much she wanted to go straight back out and buy some more. So we did. Friday night was spent in a repeat on Thursday night, only the lady in question was with us. We gave up dinner plans (we were going to take her out to a restaurant) and ate at the mall's food court in favour of more shopping time. I eventually dropped Paul and his mum off, went home and collapsed.

Saturday, got up filled in an application for the one house I liked, made appointments to view some more and then got a call on my mobile. There's someone sick at work - can you come in. I calculated the overtime rate, saw dollar signs in my eyes, postponed all housing appointments and dropped the application in on the way to work.

After work I dropped past Paul and his mum to discover some of the clothes she had bought the night before didn;t quite fit her as well as thought they would so you guessed it back off to the mall. We stopped by the new prospective house on the way and that's when we saw the fact someone else was living there ..... then off to the mall.

To get the woman into the change rooms, (hey I like shopping as much as the next person - but driving 30 plus kilometres each way for three days running was getting tiring - and expensive - on top of all the petrol I was already spending on the house hunting!) so I also tried on some clothes. She exchanged some clothes and I bought one pair of work clothes and two more work shirts .....

Did I mention that this was getting expensive ......

After that I took them both for coffee. Paul and his mum both seem to be these people who never pay for good food or coffee when out. The blanch at the prices and stay hungry until they get home. Well this time I put my foot down. I herded them into a Starbucks - yes a Starbucks! I sat them down in lovely comfy armchairs listening to some quiet jazz and the murmured sounds from the other patrons who were sipping coffee and chatting. No teenyboppers or rug-rats in sight! I bought them each their favourite type of coffee and a snack and then brought it all over.

They were in heaven! Neither of them had ever actually "done coffee" before - heathens! Its one of my favourite ways to relax with friends! And relax I did ... so restful and homey for me. I recalled for them some of the occasions where I had done such a thing before, like seeing the Kenneth Branaugh four hour Hamlet and then sitting in a coffee shop until 3am discussing it with friends ......

Anyway, we finally got out of there before I went to sleep! God they have comfy chairs! We showed his mum the place we were going to take her for her birthday dinner - a chinese restaurant that specialises in vegetarian cooking. So she went in, ordered takeaway and paid for it and then we all went back to her place to eat it. Sher said it was her treat for everything Paul and I had done for her this weekend.

The finally I got back to my place and crashed out. After cleaning up the mess from a certain nameless cat who was feeling neglected.

Sunday, got up and went to work! Had a very very bad afternoon. We had an aggressive personality with paranoid delusions in the library and he really really creeped me out! The paranoia I can handle - I'm used to being asked what government control agency do I work for, and why does my necklace take photos of them!

I often wear all black to work and I wear my blouses open to mid-cleavage. I often wear a gold-sheen obsidian pendant. Truly beautiful but it does change colour as it swings around ...

Anyway, where was I - oh yes, the paranoia I can come with - the aggression I can tolerate. I'm usually OK with being firm and standing my ground. But this guy had dead eyes. Its the only way I can describe it. There was no spark, no warmth, the expression at all in those eyes. He really creeped me out. And because I was the officer in charge that day - he decided to give me some special attention. focused his loathing on me. would creep up right behind me blowing on my neck ..... and of course spouting his paranoia - eg by stopping him accessing sex chat lines I was oppressing his rights etc ..... very nasty unbalanced individual.

Anyway that day finally finished and we got him out of the library eventually. And surprise of all surprises he was *not* waiting at my car when I came out the back door. I sat in the car and simply trembled for 5 or so minutes before driving straight to Paul's place and having a couple of cups of tea.

Paul then came over to my place and we cooked dinner (an indian vegetable bargi with spiced rice), and had a convivial "I missed you" evening before yes - collapsing into sleep.


Oh god where am I up to - oh yes Monday. Public holiday. Slept in. Wrote a complete report of the problems associated with the Sunday shift at work and emailed it to my work address. That took 2 hours to get the wording right and all details accounted accurately. Grazed and munched a very leisurely type of breakfast. Had a two hour phone conversation with some interstate friends I hadn't spoken to in months! Paul emerged sometime during the tail end of this conversation. Finally got dressed sometime mid afternoon and went house hunting again. I tell you by this time I'm still tired and my heart isn't it. Retired home early. We put on some punk music and Paul made some dinner while I did the domestic things of ironing, mending packing my bags for work etc. Another evening of "let me show you the myriad ways I love you" followed by collapsing into sleep.

This morning its up shower, dress, grab prepacked bags, down a protein shake and out the door. Spent all morning discussing my Sunday report with senior staff and all afternoon fiction cataloguing. Gave up the whole idea of getting to the gym and came home. Paul had gone back to his place. So it was a quiet dinner and phone cal with a different set of friends. Then online and well here we are.

Yup - about to go collapse in bed.

Many hugs to you all
Mel.