Toni Collette - Sold Out?

Am I the only person who thinks that Toni Collette seems to have sold out everything she stands for to do those terrible CBA ads?  For someone who spent years being quite left wing, to turn around and do an ad like this is quite, well, disturbing or maybe amusing is the right word...  I guess it goes to show money can buy just about everything - including your soul.

Melbourne - My Great Love Affair....

I was formally introduced to Melbourne 12 years ago.  I experienced her in all her greatness in the winter of 2000.  I had recently separated and decided I needed to see life through "fresh eyes".  The exact details of how I first began my love affair with Melbourne are not ones I'll bore you with but let's just say for a few months, on what seemed like every other weekend, I explored, I ate (too much), I drank (too much), I explored some more and then as quickly as the love affair began, it was over and I didn't go back till my then "boyfriend" who is now my husband (lucky thing he is!), was relocated for work.

So, in November 2002 he and I set out, well I set out, he was already there and we found ourselves living on the fringe of the CBD, in a beautiful warehouse apartment on St Kilda Road.  We didn't know anyone, so every weekend we set out to do something different.  We essentially became urban explorers - we went places I am sure most Melburnians never see in their life time.  As it had in 2000, St Kilda became my favourite all over again, Richmond his (explains his poor choice of AFL teams, I did try to educate him!).  I loved the cold, I loved the fashion.  As a matter of a fact I loved just about everything!

Life settled, my husband went to a fabulous job, I went to one that paid the bills UNTIL 3 months after we moved there when I responded to an ad and was lucky enough to meet a fabulous person who gave me a fabulous job working for her and to this day remains a good friend who I miss dearly.  

Life was great.  I had Chadstone to wander, St Kilda a 15 minute walk away, Prahran and Queen Vic markets a hop, skip and a jump away, Fitzroy a short tram ride away and in winter, my choice of nearly any AFL game I wanted (for a Tassie girl who is a mad Carlton supporter this is like winning the lottery)..  We made some life long friends and had some of the best restaurants and cafes right on our doorstep.

After 11 months of hard slog, we had finally gotten on our feet, could imagine ourselves buying a house and settling there permanently.  Then my husband was told "stay in Melbourne and be made redundant or we can move you back to Sydney".  Again, I won't bore you with the details, but we made one of the toughest decisions of our lives; to leave the place we loved to return to a place we'd so wanted to leave.

So I gave up the most fabulous job in the world with the world's best boss (thanks Anne) and moved us back in time for Christmas 2003.

We miss it a lot but talk about it less these days, we've reached the point where going back will probably never be an option.  Would it live up to everything we've built up in our minds?  We will more than likely never return to live and sometimes that makes me sad but then I think about how our life has panned out back in Sydney and I smile and am thankful for the memories.  I don't get back to Melbourne much these days; I prefer the memories.

Melbourne, thank you for being a few chapters in the book of my life.  To the reason I began one of my most favourite and memorable love affairs, if you are out there somewhere, one day, reading this, thank you also.  You are also a few chapters in the book that is my life.  And I cherish everyone one of those memories.

Stuff about me...

1. My biggest fear is failure – I cannot fathom how it would feel to disappoint all of those people around you who mean so much – even though I know their expectations of me are not nearly as high as those I place on myself.
2. I am the eldest of 6 – having 3 brothers and 2 sisters. I grew up with 2 brothers and 1 sister and met the other brother and sister when I was about 15 – not an easy age for anyone – let alone meeting a whole new family – but I now feel very blessed to have such great siblings.
3. I used to hate it when people said my name incorrectly, now I just go with the flow. It’s not that uncommon anymore but people still find it hard to grasp. My mum suggested changing the spelling when I was about 12 to make it easier for people but it wasn’t even a consideration for me.
4. I don’t warm to people immediately. As a matter of a fact most of my very dearest friends started out as people I was wary of – for reasons I am unable to pin point. If I don’t talk to you or warm to you immediately, it is only my way of working out whether I can trust you.
5. My mum gave me a very common and easy middle name (Jayne – but even then she couldn’t spell it normally!) so if I didn’t like my name when I got older I could change it BUT I wouldn’t change it for the world.
6. My mum has suffered from Parkinson’s disease for going on 20 years and if someone told me all I had to do was cut off both my legs or poke my eyes out for her to be cured, I would in a heart beat. PD is a truly fucking horrible disease that destroys your body but not your mind and I can’t imagine what my mum lives through every single day.
7. I adopted my cat Lily five years ago – she was a stray and is gorgeous. She will never replace my first cat Monte, who I had for 13 years and who died in August 2004 but she is just the smoochiest pet ever! My husband's only initial stipulation was it couldn’t be a kitten, couldn’t be white and couldn’t’ be long haired. Yep, you guessed it – she was all of the above when we rescued her and malts 365 days a year 24x7. My house looks like an igloo most days.
8. I grew up in Launceston, Tasmania but moved to Sydney on the 29th of April 1990.  I have officially lived in Sydney longer than I lived in Tassie. Well, I did a year each in Qld and Vic but Sydney has always been my primary residence. But Tassie will ALWAYS be home to me.
9. If I could leave Sydney to move back to Melbourne I would – tomorrow.
10. My husband is the funniest man I know with the blackest sense of humour I have ever encountered.
11. My friends mean the world to me – they would want to after the amount of time it takes me warm to them (see # 3)!
12. I cannot walk up or down stairs without counting them – every time, regardless of whether I walk up and down them them every day.. It makes me dizzy but I still insist on doing it...
13. I love to cook – anything and everything – from simple meals for two to complex feasts for 20.
14. My mother in law is the most fabulous mother in law you could ever wish for
15. I cannot suffer fools at all – they drive me mad and I have absolutely zero tolerance for idiots/fools/cretins
16. Sometimes I can be too honest, which gets me into trouble on a regular basis
17. Ever since moving to Sydney, when a train stops in the tunnels under the city I fear the worst and start to have a panic attack – ever since September 11 I have had to learn to control that fear and tell myself it is not a reasonable train of thought.
18. I was brought up to be very independent by parents who encouraged individuality and I still value my independence to this day
19. I have started a book and would dearly love to finish it one day
20. I would absolutely consider botox or plastic surgery if I thought I needed it when I get older
21. I got married in black – for no symbolic reason other than I loved the dress, it fitted like a dream and it was practical. I did phone my parents before purchasing it to make sure they were okay with it, and surprise, surprise, they just laughed and said of course it wasn’t a problem!
22. I love my freckles!!!

Kids....

I’m sure they enrich your life, I’m sure they are a joy to have around, I’m sure everyone who has them feels sorry for those who don’t.  I’m here to ask you to not feel sorry for me.

One of my first blogs was about my cat Lily and how reports show pets with “children” like names are called so by frustrated childless couples.  I’m here to ask you; no, to tell you; this is not the case with my husband and I.

I didn’t grow up knowing I would never have kids; I think I kind of grew “into” the idea as I got older.  I’m pretty sure my husband did as well.

I’m/we’re not anti children.  I’ll admit I can’t tolerate ill mannered children, but I don’t know many people who can (the difference is I actually call them out, but that is for another blog).  What has happened is I have become selfish as I’ve gotten older – now the thought of taking kids to dancing, karate, childrens birthday parties and losing my weekend is not appealing.  Trying to keep up with a young child 24x7 is, quite simply, not my cup of tea these days!

My latest god son (yes, I have a few, mix those with nieces and nephews and they total about 20 or 21 at last count) arrived only 2.5 weeks ago – if I was ever going to rethink my whole life, that would have been a good time.  While he is cute, outrageously so, I don’t feel like I’m missing something in life. 

So – thank you to: Alana (21 and the eldest of the pack who now has her own daughter); Jordan; Corey; Kieran; Jesse; Taj; Kobi; Indi; Carter; Addisyn; Archie; Mia; Beau; Elka; Jens; Michaela; Jack; Sienna; Jack; Jordan 2;  and the latest edition to the fold, Flynn.   You keep my life real, full, enriched and give me a little taste of what it is like to have kids.  I get the best of both worlds; and then I get to give you back to your parents.

New York - Ground Zero Museum Workshop

I was lucky enough to fulfill a life long ambition to go to NY last September, which timed in with the 10th anniversary of 911.  I review regularly on Trip Advisor and was reading one of my reviews today and decided to share it with you.

"I thought I was prepared for the emotion and sadness I would feel at being in NY for 911 and our subsequent visit to the Ground Zero Museum Workshop. I wasn't even close. The museum is amazing. From the moment my husband and I walked into the room we were over come with emotion. While watching the introduction (on personal head sets) I suddenly realised I had tears running down my face and looking around the room I wasn't the only one affected by this narrative, tastefully done, by Gary Suson. While only a small room, there is more atmosphere in that one room than in the whole of NY. You get to self pace through every picture or every story you want to know more about. It is an ideal way to spend a a few hours (realistically 1.5 hours of wandering once you have watched the introduction) lost in your own thoughts, remembering the fallen from 911. It was a humbling experience and I am glad we made the time to go. The guides were knowledgeable and friendly. I would highly recommend taking the time to visit. I am so glad we did.

http://bit.ly/L9dTT2

So I've been pounding the pavements at 5.30am in the mornings, 3 to 4 days per week, walking 6 kilometres a day (which increases to 10 when you include all the running around I do all day) to try and budge those extra kilos I'm carrying..  I'm up to week 6 and feel worse than I did when I first started....  I am about to give it all away and forget dragging myself out into the cold if there is no return, it's demotivating..  What's even more demotivating is my husband stripped off 12 kilos in 14 weeks a couple of years ago - and all I can manage in 1.2 kilos is 6 weeks...

Oatley.. Ridiculous house prices...

12 years ago Oatley was a nice suburb, quiet, peaceful, clean, people were polite and no one really ever went there unless they lived there or were visiting someone..

Fast forward those 12 years and Oatley is no different to any other middle class suburb in Sydney - but apparently someone forgot to tell people that..  House prices continue to sky rocket to unbelievable levels, with people thinking that Oatley is a prestigious place to live...

In short, it isn't - don't get me wrong, it's lovely but I draw the line at $1.5M for a house on a corner block on two main roads that needs work..  No water views, no real redeeming features other than the fact it is just under a 1/4 acre block...

You can buy much more in other suburbs where the suburb and houses are just as nice..  Not get charged ridiculous amounts (and house buyers are responsible for driving prices up) for a house you need to spend money renovating.

Sydney - when does the lunacy stop?

http://www.soldby.com.au/display.aspx?LID=81506