Greetings everyone! I have returned! At some time I will tell you all about my trip and share some of the 849 photographs that I took there!

But that time is not today. Because I am tired. Very, very tired. I'm finding it very difficult to get back into a proper sleeping rhythm. I force myself to stay awake until my normal bedtime but still wake up every hour or so during the night and have trouble getting back to sleep.

I would love to be able to just crash and sleep solidly for eight hours. That would be soooo good. Six hours would be pretty sweet too.

I had hoped to say more this entry but it's taken me far too long to write even this. Thinking, like keeping my eyes open, is hard.

Hello everyone.

Paul and I are in a shopping centre in Sydney. We are full of cake and doughnuts. This is good.

It is very hot here and we spent yesterday on Bondi beach. This is also good.

We are sunburnt. This is not so good but we have learnt our lesson and are now liberally applying sun cream whenever we go out.

How is the weather at home? :)

Only a few HOURS to go now! Eeeeee!

Yes, I'm still doing my usual CAPSLOCK Friday. Just a bit EARLIER than usual cos I FLY out tonight. I took today OFF work and it feels kinda WEIRD to be sitting at home at the moment. I've DONE my last minute packing and now there's not much ELSE to do before heading off later.

It still doesn't feel ENTIRELY real. Sometimes it does and I feel extremely EXCITED, but then at other times I have to keep REMINDING myself that I'm actually going. I find myself thinking of what to have for DINNER tonight then remember that I'll be at the AIRPORT to eat.

I don't think TILLY is very happy. It's pretty OBVIOUS to her that SOMETHING is happening. She was climbing over my SUITCASE earlier and she keeps LOOKING at me now. I hope she FORGIVES me for leaving her for two weeks.

I wonder if MCGEE will take over my BEDROOM while I'm gone. It wouldn't SURPRISE me.

FURY probably won't care.

ALSO, BEHOLD NEW LJ THEME!

Ok, I know it's a few days late, but I have Halloween pictures! I didn't post them on Sunday cos I was packing and getting ready for Sydney (yay!), I didn't post them yesterday cos I was at work until 8pm (boo!) and I didn't post them on Monday cos I'm lazy like that.

( Spooky Pumpkin Goodness )



I love this picture. :)

Once again, a most excellent Halloween. No Trick or Treaters this year so we have a bag of chocolate we'll just have to eat ourselves. Oh the hardship!

So, it's FRIDAY and that means CAPSLOCK day.

For some reason writing feels HARD. I've been TIRED all week, possibly because of the CLOCKS (damn clocks) or possibly because work has been very BUSY (damn customers).

I've also been subjected to more CHRISTMAS songs at work. And they're not JUST Christmas songs, oh no, they're BELOVED Christmas songs covered by UNSIGNED artists and they OFFEND my very being. I have to LISTEN to these artists RUIN songs that I love OVER and OVER again.

But looking on the BRIGHT SIDE (if there is one) is that it makes listening to CHRISTMAS music in OCTOBER not so bad because it's not PROPER Christmas music.

It is still VERY ANNOYING though.

Well, ENOUGH of that. It's HALLOWEEN tomorrow! YAY! I have PUMPKINS to carve. Robert and Kat did theirs YESTERDAY while I carved some PEPPERS instead.

There were HALLOWEEN treats and CAKE in the staff room at work courtesy of the one member of staff who takes day even more SERIOUSLY than I do. It was truly DELICIOUS cake.

I am currently drinking AUSTRALIAN wine. Only ONE week to go!

Look! I have a shiny new Halloween theme! With less than a week to go I feel the time is right for using it. It's not like I'm playing Christmas songs in October or anything.

Oh...wait. We played Christmas songs at work.

Yes, seriously. I did have a bit of a laugh about it with a customer though. I told her I was appalled at us. Although having said that, I only remember hearing one Christmas song. Maybe they're easing us into it.

In other news, Paul and I saw Wicked at the weekend. It was excellent, although a bit hard to understand at some points. The opening song was almost entirely incomprehensible but fortunately it got a lot better as it went on.

I just saw an advert for cake and now I want some. Alas, I am cake-less.

HELLO EVERYONE!

Thank you for all your REPLIES to my last POST. They are much APPRECIATED.

Today was turning out pretty CRAPPY too, there were bouts of insane BUSYNESS and everyone was in a BAD MOOD but then these people came in with a PUPPY and everyone went OMG SUCH A CUTE PUPPY and PEACE and HARMONY were restored to the LAND.

Cute ANIMALS make everything BETTER.

Today I got written up in the infringement diary for not smiling.

God, I hate retail.

Today a customer told me I had a lovely smile and a great sense of humour. Then he complimented me to my manager, saying that he was impressed with how friendly I was and that I should get a pay rise.

Clearly he was a very wise man. :p And just a little bit mad. :)

I suppose I should be CAPSLOCKING since it is FRIDAY.

I plan to go get some AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS tomorrow. We fly out THREE WEEKS today and it's feeling a BIT more REAL now but still feels like I've got LOADS of time. Which I DON'T.

I am EXCITED though.

Nooo! Stephen Gately, nooo!

Damn, I loved him when I was 13.

And 33 is far too fucking young.

:(

So, another WEEK has ended and the WEEKEND has begun. I have managed to do SOMETHING to my ankle, although I have no idea WHAT. I think I should SUE my work though. I'm sure I can find some reason why it's their FAULT.

Also, I'm not writing this entry from my USUAL chair because there is a CAT in it.

( Photographic Evidence )

See how COMFY he looks on MY cushion, snuggled into MY Leonard Cohen top. He was PURRING as well so of course I couldn't MOVE him.

That's MCGEE, the cat we have named after the NCIS character. And the new season of NCIS starts tonight. YAY.

Argos sells Terry's Chocolate Oranges! This caused much joy and excitement amongst us all. Truly, we are simple people.

Simple people with easy access to Terry's Chocolate Oranges, that is. =D

It is FRIDAY. I have a CAT on my lap and a VODKA and COKE by my laptop. Things are GOOD.

Although I see NOBODY has replied to my post from YESTERDAY about THIS. Perhaps I would have better luck if I made it a POLL:

Poll #1465518 Twilight Fleece
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

How Awesome is the Twilight Fleece Blanket?

There you go. =D

The release date for Chuck series 2 has been put back a week. This makes me sad.

Argos sells a Twilight fleece. This fills me with inexplicable joy.

The Argos website won't let you search for Twilight. This amuses me beyond belief. Seriously, I put 'Twilight' into the search box and this is what I got:

You searched for Office > Printerink > Printerinkcartridges ( clear ) 267 results found

I guess even Argos realises how terrible the series is and is trying to redirect anyone foolish enough to search for it.

SOMEONE BOUGHT CHRISTMAS WRAPPING PAPER TODAY!

I FEEL THIS NEEDS TO BE IN ALL CAPS TO EXPRESS THE DEPTHS OF MY SHOCK AND HORROR.

I HAVE A LARGE RUM AND COKE TO HELP ME GET THROUGH THE TRAUMA.

YES...THE TRAUMA. IT WAS VERY TRAUMATIC. SO TRAUMATIC THAT I NEED MORE RUM.

YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE IS TRAUMATIC? THE, UM, LIGHT. YES, THE LIGHTS ARE NOT ON IN THIS ROOM AND IT IS GETTING DARK AND I AM TRAUMATISED AND MUST HAVE MORE RUM TO COPE WITH IT ALL.

(AND I HAVE JUST REALISED THAT THIS WOMAN'S ACTIONS HAVE MADE ME USE MY 'CHRISTMAS' TAG IN SEPTEMBER. THIS CALLS FOR EVEN MORE RUM!)

It's the equinox, Mabon, the first say of autumn and that means it's time for me to start using my autumnal journal theme.

Damn, I love autumn. So much.

This weekend I went up to London to see after_thought16 and take pictures with my shiny new camera. I ended up taking 241 shots but don't worry, I haven't posted them all. Just 13. Mmm, lucky 13.

( London! )

So that was my weekend. It was fun, although by the end I was about ready to collapse. My bag was damn heavy, which is worrying since I'm planning to use it for Sydney and my shoulder still aches now.

Well, WORK has certainly been an ADVENTURE this week.

Most of the MANAGERS are on HOLIDAY, the TILLS have been CRASHING, the PRINTER has been PLAYING UP and I FUCKED UP in the CASH OFFICE. I've CORRECTED the mistake though, and in my DEFENCE, I was left COMPLETELY BY MYSELF after being trained TWO WEEKS ago.

And today the TILLS refused to close down. I wonder if it's related to the fact that the SYSTEM randomly decided it was an HOUR later than it is. That was ODD.

Still, the WORK WEEK is over and the WEEKEND has begun! YAY!

I had a good weekend. Emma and I reminisced about being students and drank Mickey Finns while watching Family Guy. Or possibly Torchwood by this point. I can't quite remember. It does make it the third Saturday in a row where I haven't slept in my own bed. That makes me feel young and popular and less like the old lady I've been worried about turning into.

Speaking of being a student, I'm thinking I might have to start labelling my food. I bought some Caramel Cinnamon Waffle ice cream and, before I've even had the chance to have any, I caught Dad eating it! Shocking.

I may have to go grab some before it all goes.

Ok, I have a large GIN and LEMONADE and am ready to write my CAPSLOCK of doom entry.

I'm sure SOMETHING happened today and I thought "I'll MENTION that in my CAPSLOCK entry later" but I can't REMEMBER what it was. Epic memory FAIL. This is what happens when you turn TWENTY SIX.

Oh god, I'm TWENTY SIX. It hadn't really SUNK IN until just then.

It's all DOWNHILL to THIRTY now.

I need more ALCOHOL.