a Beer, a Whine and The Spirit

Last Tuesday I was sitting at my desk at work and I had the sudden urge to book a flight back to Brisbane for the weekend. Hubs said it was a-okay (anything to keep me from crying!!) and so operation "suprise Godson Billy-Bob and Billy-Bob's Mum for Billy-Bob's 2nd Birthday on Saturday" sprung into action.

Now I'm actually a vault when it comes to keeping other people's secrets, but when it comes to my own secrets, I'll keep quiet for about 5 minutes before I hear myself saying "now I'm not telling many people, but...." or "don't tell anyone, but...." and so I spent a stressful few days trying to keep it from B-B's Mum. But it worked! I surpised the crap out of them! It was very exciting:

Me and B-B's Mum (we've known each other since we were 2 years old)


With B-B


And B-B's Dad. Make a wish!


We had a lovely day at the park on the river, after which I went to my Nanny and Grandpa's place for lunch, and because they knew I was coming, there was of course pierogi! Yummy!

Saturday night I had some time with my bitches (I've been missing you guys!!) and Sunday we had a 4 hour brunch at Mum and Dad's with my cousins and a few other family members and friends. My parents don't do things by halves though. As usual there was SO much food!













































I got to catch up with more of my bitches in the afternoon (no, seriously! I miss you guys!!) on the way to the airport, and all in all I had a very relaxing weekend. Thanks to everyone who came to see me! And sorry to those I didn't tell! It just ends up being too full-on if I try to see everyone all the time! You know I love you!

Posted by Renae at 2:00 PM Comments

A Beer (and some passion pop... and $3.50 cowboys...)

My friend A-dele came to visit a couple of weeks ago now and, as usual, we had a ball together! I ordered some typical Melbourne weather for her visit, and it delivered: Warm and sunny Friday; rainy and windy Saturday; freezing cold Sunday! Regardless, we had heaps of fun!

We danced at the Turf Bar:

Walk like an Egyptiannnnnn....


It's fun to stay at the Yyyyyyy M C A!


Billie Jean is NOT my lover (ow!)


"Dancing's for sissies" (says Hubs & L)


Yeah right!!! (do you like the new shirt I bought for Hubs!?)


We discovered what is now my new favourite coffee shop, Bebida on Smith st, we did LOTS of window shopping, we visited Abbotsford Convent, we ate yummy cupcakes (check out that awesome cupcake-to-frosting ratio!!!)


And we walked and walked and walked! Saturday we covered around 8km and Sunday we did about 5km. We also stumbled upon the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival down at Fed Square, but it was very crowded so we just had a quick look before heading back home for a cup of tea and a rest. Looking forward to some more visitors booked in over the next few months!

Posted by Renae at 2:00 PM Comments

So Hubs and I have been eating a bit of pop corn lately - it's a cheap and tasty snack that's SUPER easy to make!... or so I thought... Here's what happened:

Wifey: "I'm off to see my friend now. Be back in a few hours"
Hubs: "Can you please make some pop corn before you go so Dr Luke and I can eat it while watching (insert boy movie here)?"
Wifey: "Honey, I have to go. It's really easy to make. Just heat up the oil, put half a cup of corn in, put the lid on, and turn it off when it stops popping."
Hubs: "Okaaaay"

An hour later

Ring ring
Wifey: "Hey Hubs"
Hubs: "Oh yeah. Cooking pop corn is soooooooooo easy. How come I have a kitchen full of smoke and a saucepan full of black corn? See what happens when you leave me alone to fend for myself????"
Wifey: (trying to stop laughter)

This is what greeted me on my return: (our new pots!!)



And it took a few days for the burnt pop corn smell to leave the house!!! The moral of the story? Never assume that a super-intelligent man who is completing his PhD in electrical engineering, as WELL as studying medicine, can cook pop corn.

Posted by Renae at 3:57 PM Comments

A HUGE Whine!!

"I can't find you on facebook."
"Why aren't you on facebook?"
"Are you coming to my party? I sent out a facebook invite. Why haven't you replied?"

These are a sample of the questions, comments and near accusations we are regularly subjected to, because we choose not to subscribe to facebook. Now I would consider myself to be a fairly open-minded gal, so I signed up to facebook just under 2 years ago. Then I unsubscribed just over a year ago. Let me tell you why. (If you don't want to read a rant about the evils of facebook, then this is not a blog post for you.)

1. What ever happened to "what happens at the hen's night, stays at the hen's night." Or substitute "hen's night" with any type of gathering where there is drinking and silliness - many Friday nights for some of us! These days it's a case of "what happens at the pub, is sure to be splashed over the pages of facebook 10 hours later." I don't like this. I don't like the feeling of "well I WANT to be silly and get a laugh, but where are the cameras? Who out of these people are likely to ignore common courtesy, not ask for my permission to post photos of me, and share them like crazy in a few hours time?" Answer? Most of these people are in that boat. Which brings me to my next point:

2. I pride myself on the fact that I ask my friend's permission to post photos of them on my blog - a blog that perhaps a dozen people read (I have no idea who reads this thing!!) and a blog where I like to share fun things that Hubs and I have been doing. Whilst a facebooker, I had VERY dodgy photos of myself being put up on other people's pages and being "tagged", and when I asked for them to be taken down, I was told to get a sense of humour. The word "friend" started to lose it's meaning. Which brings me to my next point:

3. What is a "friend"? I don't know about you, but my "friends" are people I have things in common with; whom I share a history with; and who's life journey I would like to be a part of, whether regularly or sporadically. "Friends" are not people I once met through an ex-boyfriend 6 years ago and had a beer with. I don't want to know what they are up to, and I don't want them to know what I'M up to. I know I can choose who I want to be friends with, but after getting friend requests and ignoring a certain person I did NOT want to be "friends" with 3 TIMES, enough was enough.

4. I don't feel that my life is less fulfilling by not knowing what people are doing every second of their lives, (don't even get me STARTED on twitter) nor do I have the need or desire to keep my friends up to date on my daily goings-on. And call me old fashioned, but I like receiving actual invitations to things, even if it's in a group email. At least I feel like the person inviting me has taken the time to think of me. I just find facebook so impersonal.

If facebook is used the right way, for the right reasons, with the right intentions, then I'm fully supportive of this online tool. But generally it's not. Generally it's used to embarass and make fun of people's silly antics. There is no trust and no courtesy. There is no thought as to how the person in the photo will feel.

I know my not having a facebook account isn't going to stop "me" from being on facebook, but what I can't see can't hurt me. So if you love facebook, great! Good for you. No, really - each to their own. But believe me when I say that I'm okay with not being on facebook. It's just everybody else who seems to have a problem with that fact.

Posted by Renae at 10:38 AM Comments

A whine

Yeah yeah, I'm sick again. After a relatively uneventful January and February, I have picked up the "Fresher Flu" (first years are called freshers and apparently every year they pass around this nasty chest infection that they've nicknamed!) and I'm not happy about it! I actually don't feel TOO bad, except for the fact that I've all but lost my voice which makes answering the phone super-sexy! I currently sound like Myf Warhurst (stand back gentlemen!) which is not necessarily a bad thing! :-)

Apparently this is an occupational hazard, working at a university college. Let's see how long it takes me to pick up the next bug....

Posted by Renae at 2:02 PM Comments

Hubs and I have been married just over 1 year now and there are a few things I've learnt along the way. Some things I've worked out for myself, some things have been taught by Hubs, and there have been some pearls of wisdom shared by people in the know along the way. Here are a few I'd like to share with you:

1. Pick your battles. This is one I've learnt via all 3 of the above ways. I used to fight all of the little disagreements that we had, and realised it got me nowhere.

2. One of the best, most important and most appreciated gifts I can give Hubs is my undivided attention. Even if it's for 5 minutes in the morning before I head to work, it makes him feel like the most important person in my world and starts our day wonderfully.

3. Respect for each other's differences. Just respect in general really, but Hubs and I are quite different in a lot of ways, which sometimes means we don't understand where the other is coming from. I've learnt (the hard way) to take a step back and try and see things from his perspective. And if I can't, I've realised that's okay.

4. Safety first. Hubs has created in our marriage, an assurance that we are safe together. And I don't mean physically, I mean emotionally. There is nothing that I'm afraid of telling him. I know that no matter what I say, no matter how crazy, unrealistic, irrational, no matter what, Hubs will listen and not judge me. I know that I can share all of my hopes and dreams and disappointments and fears and craziness with him, and he will not only embrace it all, he'll love me even more for it. I hope I do the same for him, though my impulsive tendencies sometimes get in the way, but I'm learning! Which brings me to my next point:

5. Take a deep breath and don't react to situations/comments/actions straight away. This one I'm learning from Hubs. There have been quite a few times in our relationship when I have reacted without considering intentions/motivations (not just Hubs') behind things, and more often than not there has been a misunderstanding and I end up looking and feeling slightly foolish.

So that's about all for now. I could go on and on but I don't want to share all my wisdom in one sitting! What a journey it has been so far, and what an adventure our life together will be!

And here's some photos, cos you know, everybody likes photos!!

Hubs and I on our honeymoon in Vanuatu with our hair braided (my scalp got SO sunburnt!!)


A week later when we took the plaits out:

Posted by Renae at 11:04 AM Comments

I'm just another clown kicking around in Melbourne town, so says Harry from The Cat Empire. One of my favourite Cat Empire songs is The Crowd, and I feel even more of a connection to it now that WE'RE the clowns kicking around in Melbourne town. I particularly like the second verse that goes a little something like this:

On the train I refrain from sitting with head and shoulders bowed
They told me time is of the essence
No wandering allowed
But then I saw a pretty girl
Whose features stood out in the crowd (whose feet just stood out in the crowd!! Huh??)
Went ten minutes past my stop waiting for her to look around
I'm just another clown kicking around in Melbourne town
Cooling out, relaxing watching the
World go round
So if you ever have the time
And you want to go drink some wine
I'd rather greet you with a smile
Than greet you with a frown...

Then there's an awesome drum riff and trumpet fanfare, followed by Harry going nuts with some ad-lib! Brilliant! It's such a cool, sexy song that always makes me smile. I really feel like it captures a lot of the essence of living in Melbourne Town.

Come visit some time!

Posted by Renae at 11:17 AM Comments

How is it that one week we're scorching in +40 degree heat, and the next we're being thrust into the depths of winter? How is that possible? Because it's Melbourne, that's how. I've been doing a fair bit of swimming over the last 2 months, but I gotta tell you, it's hard to get motivated when I get home at 5pm and it's 17 degrees. And to be honest, it's not even the pool temperature that I dread - it's an indoor heated pool kept at a pleasant 26-28 degrees, just like swimming up the Sunny Coast in summer - it's the walk to and from the pool that's the killer. Granted, it's a 200m walk, but with wet hair and the wind factor, the walk home can be quite an unpleasant experience for even the most dedicated Eskimo!

But kudos to me (yes, I'm giving myself kudos!) for coming home to a cozy house and a warm Hubsband, and STILL deciding it would be a good idea to go for a swim this afternoon. 1km later, it was totally worth it.

Oh, and it's currently 12 degrees...... where are Hubs' uggs?

Posted by Renae at 8:43 PM Comments

A couple of weeks ago, Hubs and I had the pleasure of attending Hubs' grandfather's 90th birthday. We had a great time catching up with family and friends, and meeting some new people as well - mostly family I didn't know about! Here are some happy snaps from the day:

Wifey, Alma, Geoff (Hubs' Dad), Harry, Hubs


Harry & Alma and their 2 sons Geoff & Wayne


Grandad Harry has dementia, but he seemed quite present for a lot of the party. Even though he wasn't quite sure who some of the people there were, he could comprehend the stories being told by some of his old Navy buddies, and even corrected a couple of details along the way! He's still pretty switched on when it comes to cheeky comments (on our wedding day I told Harry that I had just married his grandson, and asked if that was okay, to which he responded "well with you looking like that, I reckon I'D marry you!) but day-to-day things he struggles with a bit more.

Grandad & Grandson


Harry & Wifey


I'm so impressed with the longevity in the family! Both Nanna Alma and Grandad Harry are 90 now, and they had a few relatives there who were also in their late 80s and 90s. Not to mention my grandparents as well! I hope to have a loooooooooooooong and happy life with my lovely Hubs, and genetics seem to be on our side!

Happy 90th Harry! We look forward to celebrating 91 with you next year!

Posted by Renae at 9:00 AM Comments

I spent a number of years thinking AC/DC sang "Rock n roll ain't no solution" and I wondered what they were trying to find a solution to. I think it's a great solution to feeling melancholy about doing housework, and certainly it can lift your spirits if you're in a rut, but that's all I could come up with. Maybe the real lyrics "Rock n roll ain't noise pollution" make more sense....

Posted by Renae at 10:00 AM Comments