Too Much Time

“Time is a drug. Too much of it kills you.” -- Terry Pratchett

Typically I'm really good at filling up time. I make a daily to do list and dedicate myself to getting everything done, but over the last few weeks it has definitely not been that way. When you wake up in the morning and you realise you don't have to get up for anything it is easy to just decide you won't do anything. Although this blog will cover events and things that I have been up to, I will admit that about 80% of my time has been filled up with Netflix, Hulu, and the news. 

If you are wondering about the status of my thesis, the most I can say is that so am I! It's been over a month since I expected to hear back and be making edits. My limbo period continues...

Event #1:

I took a two-day real estate course and got my certificate of completion! This allows me to work in the real estate industry. Unfortunately, I'm not so sure I want to do that. I like my weekends and a lot of property management and sales is done on Saturday. Not to mention when the training woman said that door knocking and cold-calling were part of the daily activities I was not so sure I want to pursue that kind of job. 

I have no idea what I want for a career anymore, but at this stage I just want a job that pays well and makes me feel useful. I'm really good at any kind of administrative and customer service occupation so that's what I have been applying for. If I don't get any of the local administration jobs I've applied for in January I will just apply for ANY job. In the end it doesn't really matter what job I have because as long as I feel I'm useful and making a difference and earning decent money I'll be happy. Until Matt and I get permanent residency, employers can only hire me to the end of my current visa (September) anyway. 

Event #2:

On my run one morning after a major thunder and lightning storm I found a friend. This little dog just decided to jog along with me for a while. He got distracted and so I just kept running figuring he would find his way home. On my last lap he was still where I left him so I walked him back to the construction site that I found him. It turns out nobody at the construction site or the nearby neighbours knew where he came from. I should add it is REALLY uncommon to find strays and considering how good of a healer he was I was positive he had an owner. 

I carried him all the way home so he wouldn't run away and grabbed the cat leash. Surprisingly the dog was perfectly fine with Shade, although Shade wasn't too sure. I let the dog inside while I gathered stuff to walk him to the nearby vet, and there was an awkward moment where the cat and dog were right next to each other and although Shade's tail was huge, the dog just ignored him and nothing happened. When I took the dog to the vet they found that he was on their records and were able to get a hold of Elvis's owner to come pick him up. Happy days!

Event #3

Speaking of animals, I had a fun event with Shade recently. I went outside to bring our bikes inside. When I opened the back door to bring Shade back in he walked in with a lizard in his mouth. I rushed to grab a camera and recorded him for nearly 20 minutes! He didn't want to kill it, just play with it. I couldn't believe how the lizard was surviving being beaten up by the cat the whole time. After Shade punctured the lizard and I saw blood I felt it was time to extract the poor thing and I let him outside assuming he would die, but he disappeared. Normally I would save the lizard, but I figured since it was in Shade's mouth it was already almost dead. We found the missing lizard tail later. Here's a short clip and I'm sorry for the loud TV in the background of the video...

Event #4

On a different note, Matt has been working on another side job. I helped him all day Saturday and Monday night. The back story of this apartment is interesting. The tenants had serious domestic fights and someone called the cops who ended up breaking down the door. Supposedly later they had a break in and a bedroom door and the mirror in the bathroom was stolen (Seriously??). To add to that they had some Coke bottle explode in the bedroom so there were coke stains all over. Unfortunately, tenants like this are quite common and while we were there painting we heard at least 3 apartments have some serious fights! 

Black smudges from the finger printing done. 

These are knife marks and profanity left on a door from the tenants.

The Coke stain?? 

This has ended up to be a big job and I'm glad I have had the energy to help Matt out. I've also finally learned how to paint semi-even coats, paint trim, and now I understand that getting paint to match is not an easy task. For everyone that thinks anyone can just paint their own place, all I can say is you're probably wrong and if you want a really clean look you should hire a professional. Additionally my back and arms ache from all the work of a day and a half whereas Matt's muscles are used to it. 

Event #5

You have likely heard of the recent tragic event in Sydney, Australia. At the Lindt Cafe in the CBD in Sydney a 50-yr-old man held 17 people hostage. The siege lasted something like 17 hours. In the afternoon 3-5 people escaped and around 2 AM several more escaped while the captor fell asleep. Apparently, the cafe manager tried to take the gun from the captor at this time and in the process was shot dead and others were wounded. The police immediately took action and the man was killed at the scene. Another woman died from a heart attack after being taken to the hospital. That is my short summary with the basics, but there is a lot of detail elsewhere (click here). 

This was a major event and you rarely hear about things like this happening so close to home. Nevertheless, there isn't much you can do to prevent acts of terrorism or other bad things from happening. I'm not really shaken by it, afraid, or even concerned in the slightest. I feel for all those that were involved and the families of those that lost someone, but at the same time I'm over hearing about it. I watched the news for about two hours and nothing new was happening so I got bored - why dwell on it if there's nothing I can do about it? This may seem really insensitive, but I liked to speculate what they were doing, were they eating chocolate? - they'd have to be starving in there, were they able to do stuff on their phones?, and what would I do in that situation? Anyway, stuff happens and we just learn from it, support each other, and move on. It doesn't matter where you live, what nationality you are, or where you like to have your morning coffee - anyone can make bad decisions and even life-threatening ones. This is all part of life and I intend to live it. (End soap box rant)

Event #6

Last night I went with the Young Women of my ward to see the temple lights for mutual. It was a fun activity with a lot less looking at lights than I expected! We spend a lot of our time rolling around on the grass. I'm thankful the temple is so well groomed for us to be able to do that! I love working with the young women and I'm excited to see all the amazing things they will do as they continue to learn and grow. Life is awesome!!

I'm still working on my sewing projects, and just completed some holiday treats (oreo truffles)! I'm excited for Christmas and have already started watching cheesy holiday movies! Matt and I aren't going to have missionaries over this year, but we are going to visit a family that invited us over so at least we won't be alone doing the same things we always do. We aren't doing Christmas cards, no particular reason, but we don't usually get many anyway. This blog will have to do. I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!! Enjoy your cold and snowy Christmases because I will be thinking of you as I melt in the summer heat in Australia!