if I were to give up

Yet again my experiment failed.

Yet again I have that awful pit-in-your-stomach feeling that it will finally be exposed for the fact that I have no freaking idea of what I'm doing at all.

Yet again I want to give up on my dream of being useful by reducing outbreaks of infectious diseases in refugee camps and disaster zones.

So in my procrastination of reality and decision making, I have come up with a list of eight other things I could be doing instead of two Masters degrees:

1. Eating baguettes in France

2. Mucking about in a diagnostic laboratory

3. Making cupcakes

4. Marrying some rich handsome man and being on a reality tv show

5. Becoming fat and lazy and being a Collingwood bum

6. Getting pregnant and being a stay-at-home Mum

7. Spending lots of money on shoes

8. Nothing at all

bonjour!

I finally did it - I started French class last Monday.

I say finally because I was supposed to start way back when with Nette, except I had several lame excuses (mostly money reasons - French classes are NOT cheap!) and now she's got an amazing Frnech accent and I am stuck with learning "un, duex, trois". But we all have to start somewhere...

Ooh la la, me in Paris, Jan 2011

The whole reason behind my learning French is to make my application look a little stronger compared to others when applying for jobs at the WHO and MSF etc. The bonus is that when I go to Paris this January I should be able to ask basic questions and not sound ridiculous.

seven hundred and thirty days

Over seven hundred and forty days ago I used Google to search for a Church close to me that not only could I get to via public transport, but somewhere I could call home. 

Seven hundred and thirty days ago I walked in the doors of the church Google suggested to me with my friend Deb Deb and we sat through what just happened to be their Young Adults service - great timing for someone who is a Young Adult looking for a place to make friends and call home. We sat through the service and enjoyed the music and thought it was a great service. 

At the end of the service, the exuberant Senior Pastor of the church tracked us visitors down like a homing missile, asking us lots of questions and introducing us to people. Eventually we made our way to the bus stop across the road from the Church ready to head back home. Instead, a tall young man runs across the road, asks us if we were just at church, and if so would we like to come to lunch? 

That day I met the people who would turn out to be some of the most important people of my life. That day I found home. 

Today was our Young Adults service at that same church only two years later. Over the past two years I've gone from sitting alone in the service to singing in the band on stage; from walking out with not knowing anyone, to feeling a part of the family and inviting others to join.

I just want to take the time to thank everyone at my church, all the amazing friends I've made and to the families who have welcomed me in with open arms and beautiful hugs. Thanks for the teams I'm serving on, and my leaders, for allowing me to grow and try things. I am truly blessed to have had google direct me to you. 

baby sister

Often people think my younger sister is older than me, however I am actually 2 years and 3 months older. My first memory of my sister is when I put all our toys into her cot and she was stuck underneath them. I'm sure it's one of those memories you develop when people tell you that story time and time and so you believe it, but in my mind it's rather funny seeing this little version of my giant sister squashed under all those toys. Mwah ha ha.

Me and my sisters

I guess I am remembering this because today at church I was hanging out with my favourite little girl who has just became a big sister whilst everyone was paying attention to her gorgeous brand new little sister. 

work laughs

It's Tuesday, our boss isn't here, and there's nothing urgently pressing going on in the exciting world of poo research. So Dre and I decided to decorate the place a little bit.

What do you think?

Last weeks poll had two awesome people answering it, with 50% claiming they'd love to know what is in their poo, and 50% telling me they don't poop. Interesting information gathered there!

This weeks poll is about flying to the moon, because I've got that stupid Savage Garden song stuck in my head. 

national tally room

You've sat through months of annoying advertisements for promises that are going to be broken.

You've heard a constant stream of malicious rumors thrown against the opposition.

You spent your Saturday going to your local Primary School, grabbing a sausage from the sausage sizzle, only to put some random arrangement of numbers in boxes.

And now it's Saturday night, you've gathered your mates around to play drinking games, watching Lori Oakes pull faces, and find out who is supposedly going to be the next Prime Minister.

Of all elections, this upcoming Federal Election NEEDS a televised National Tally Room. There was a bloody change of Prime Ministers to allow Labor to have a chance and now you're taking away our fun?! 

The AEC claims that no television network was interested in hosting the night, and at a cost of $1.2m AUD was too expensive to keep up just for the sake of historical reasons. Electorial Commissioner Ed Killesteyn states that the National Tally Room was "essentially a backdrop for the media" and "plays no role in the actual delivery of election results". Pfft. 

Sure, I'm Gen Y - I have facebook and twitter and a blog and can find out the results through many means, but it's not the same! A televised National Tally Room is an Australian Election INSTITUTION! In regards to the use of social media/internet to find out the results - no, that's not cool. You use twitter/facebook/instagram/whatever-other-app-is-hip to rant and/or rave about the results. You use the hashtag to communicate with others about the results, to join together on it. It's not the same sitting around a computer screen refreshing it every few moments - there is no excitement. 

Ever since I was a kid I remember watching the count on the TV. 

I've watched every Tally Room for every State and Federal election that was applicable to me. Even when I was overseas I streamed in. Earlier this year I watched the Western Australian count whilst on course-block in Canberra. I can attest to the fact that there were several WA people who were interstate at the time and were relieved to find it nationally televised. 

To not have the National Tally Room on TV is like not airing the Logies. Sure, we could just find out the results through social media, but then we wouldn't see the dresses or hear the stupid speeches. Just not as fun. 

So I've started a change.org petition, where you can add to this small angry voice. Join me in bringing back a national institution - the National Tally Room. 

My petition: https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/australian-electoral-commission-aec-televise-the-national-tally-room-for-the-2013-federal-election

just because

How awesome is my Mum?

Why you ask? Because yesterday I came home to a parcel with these beauties in it:

Beautiful Bloch leather ballet flats, so amazingly comfortable - I know, because I wore them all last night at music prac and all day today at work. And they're a fantastic colour! I got so many comments on them today at work.

What made a parcel with shoes in it even more amazing was the card.

See, told you my Mum is amazing. Love you!

breakfast

I go through phases of what I eat for breakfast - vegemite on toast, avocado on toast, jam on toast, yoghurt with muesli, tortilla's with butter, doritos, tim tams...

But today, my breakfast has left me so hungry I wanted to eat my morning tea at 9.30am (I managed to push my way through to 10am before gobbling it down).

What am I eating?

Just yoghurt.

This may or may not be the amazing brand of yoghurt that I buy...

Look, it's tasty and all, my pot-set Greek yoghurt with honey, produced by a West Australian company (got to buy local y'all!). And I have no-one else to blame other than myself for not going to the supermarket and getting more muesli.

I've just been avoiding the supermarket because every time I go in there I manage to buy more than I need and so I'm trying to not go. Do you find the same? You go, expecting to spend $5 on a box of muesli (I know right, what on earth is the world coming to when $5 is cheap for a box of muesli!!!), and you walk out with a whole freaking shopping trolley full.

But I know that my avoidance is only going to make things worse; by my trying to use up everything in my cupboard/fridge, it means that eventually I will need to buy everything to replace all that I've used and then BOOM - $100 grocery bill. ARGH!

I guess I am going via the stupidmarket on my way home tonight... 

happy new year!

For those of you who are not Australians, you're probably thinking "um, Anita, it's July 1..." but in Australia it's the first day of the financial new year!

So what's the big deal about that? Hmmm, not much in my world, other than I forgot to buy a new external hard drive before today so I won't be able to claim it as a tax write-off this year.

The biggest thing about July 1 for me is that the new Blackberry Q10 is supposedly available today! Yes, I am a Blackberry fan, and no, I will not see my ways and get an iPhone/Samsung/whatever crappy full touchscreen bullpucky you're trying to convince me of... give me my clicky qwerty keypad any day.

I say supposedly because my phone provider of choice has been telling us for days to "stay tuned" in regards to their release information, despite the fact that Blackberry Australia has been telling us for days that it will be released today. In fact, when I rang up the company city store, they told me that they wouldn't be getting the Q10 for several weeks as the opposition had exclusive rights on the phone. I questioned the poor girl on that fact, and she then put me on hold, coming back acknowledging that I was right, and she was shocked that they hadn't been told.

How do I know this? Well, if you're following me on twitter you would know that I have been pestering them endlessly, both Blackberry and my phone company. It's rather frustrating - I would have loved to have lined up outside the city store to get my hands on the new Q10 early this morning. Instead, I am left with venting my frustration.

Hopefully the next time I type to you will be to rave about how awesome my new phone is.