There are also some other smaller projects that I’d like to work on in the next few weeks:

1. Book all accommodation for our trip to China in April/May. I’ve already worked out a rough itinerary, so would like to start locking in some accommodation!
2. Start brushing up on my Mandarin language skills. They’re very rusty as I haven’t used Mandarin regularly for the past four years. I’ve already borrowed some audio language guides from my local library that I want to transfer to my iPhone so I can practice on my commute.
3. Start reading up on research methods for my last unit of study for my Masters. I should receive this year’s materials towards the end of this month, but because I have last year’s materials already, I can start doing some pre-reading.
4. Learn how to use Kieran’s new Nikon D3100 DSLR that he won the day before he left for Japan. He left it with me, so I might as well teach myself the basics so that I can appropriate the camera whenever I feel like being “artistic”. Inverted commas are actually necessary, because I’m not artistic in the traditional sense.

I also have a monthly pass to a gym in the city that I purchased for $19 off a Daily Deal site. It expires at the end of February, so I guess I should start going. I need to go at least four times to make the $19 investment worthwhile. Wish me luck?

I want to be a giver. I am, comparably speaking, really lucky. I have my health, my job, my family and friends, a roof over my head and food on my table. I have discretionary income – I can take holidays, buy clothes I don’t need and see movies I’ll forget about in a month. Not everyone is as lucky as I am, and I am constantly reminded of that working in a charity. Every day, I encounter families whose young children can die overnight from hypoglycaemia. Mothers who get up every hour to check to make sure their child is still alive. I don’t have anything like that to worry about – I am one of the lucky few. So I want to give back. I donate my time on the weekend fundraising at events for the organisation I work for…but I can do more. I have more time and skills to contribute. I just need to find charities and organisations who need me after work and on weekends.

I want to be more of my own person. This was never really a problem for me when I was living in Melbourne. I was never dependent on a partner to the point of only spending time with him or his friends. However, after moving to Sydney where I don’t have an extensive friendship network like I do in Melbourne, it’s very easy to tag along to everything that Kieran does, and spend all my time with his friends. I don’t have a reason to turn down an invitation, because I never have other plans. This needs to change. It’s not healthy. So I need to build my own friendship network. I’ve been attending trivia nights on Wednesdays with a regular group of people who I met on Sydney Livejournal (who are now Facebook friends, who are coming to my housewarming, etc.), which is a great start. I’m very conscious though, of the fact that I can and should do more. I’ve signed up for an account at Meetup, and I just need to find the right group for me. It’s an ongoing project.

I want to be recognised for my abilities. In other words, I don’t want to make excuses. I’m only going to use one example here – and that’s my ability as a cook. For the longest time, I’ve always claimed that I’m not a cook because I was never really allowed in the kitchen growing up – it was very clearly my mother’s dominion. I’ve loudly and proudly proclaimed my expertise in creating beans on toast or two minute noodles. That’s all a dirty lie. I’m actually a really good cook. I don’t follow recipes, and I don’t meal plan. I cook from instinct, and it always turns out well. Case in point – my attempts at salmon and chicken. I need to stop hiding behind a facade of incompetence to lower people’s expectations of me, and admit that I’m actually pretty awesome.¹

I want to be realistic about my capabilities. More often than not, I’m my own worst enemy – I think I’m capable of doing more than what is actually humanly capable. Case in point. I’m also Captain Possible at work – no matter how much work people throw at me, I won’t stop to say that it’s not manageable – I’ll find a way to do it all even if it means staying till 8pm every night and taking work home on weekends (which believe me, I don’t get paid enough to do). So I need to a) learn to say no/stop; and b) be realistic enough to look at what is actually possible. This is not only for my own benefit in terms of stress levels, but also for others around me as they recognise what is possible and in what timeframes.

I want a lot more. But this is a start.

¹Note: I still think it’s perfectly acceptable to make an excuse that you’re not strong enough to carry heavy things up two flights of stairs. If a stronger person can do it for me, then that’s definitely preferable!

1. My financial situation is a little less dire. They’ve finally found a tenant for my apartment (at $80 a week less than what they originally said I would get), but I’m still three months down on rental income ($6000). I’ve negotiated a payment plan with the tax office so I can pay my tax bill, I don’t have to pay other bills until January, and I have enough for a deposit on a rental in Sydney. Things are tight, but I’m not as stressed.
2. I have not yet found a rental in Sydney. I have another round of inspections this weekend though, so fingers crossed. I have three more weeks available to me in my current temporary accommodation (I can leave earlier if I find somewhere), so that’s my deadline for finding somewhere.
3. His immediate family love me. I’m meeting the extended family this weekend at a birthday gathering, and I’m relatively confident they’ll love me too.
4. I’m currently living with two men in my temporary accommodation, though not the two in this entry. I’m not sure what happened with those two actually – we lost contact after I went away for a month, so I assume they’ve found somewhere else to live? Anyway, living with two men who’ve never been introduced to cleaning products. Huzzah.
5. I’ve re-enrolled in my postgrad degree for next semester. It’s actually been quite nice having a few months off study, considering how manic I’ve been with travelling, moving, and settling into a new city, and also considering that I’ve been in continuous education since I was four. I just hope I can get back into study mode next year.
6. I ended up buying an actual GPS. I don’t know whether it’s helped or hindered my driving around Sydney though. The problem with Sydney’s highways is that you might be travelling on one, then each of the four lanes will go off into a different highway (all unmarked with the actual highway name, just marked with destination), and all the GPS will tell you is “Continue on Warringah Highway”, and not clarify which one it is. There have been times when I’ve been in the wrong lane and ended up having to drive across the Sydney Harbour Bridge (bye bye $5 toll charge!) when that’s the last thing I want to do.

As for things that have been happening since I’ve returned to Sydney:

1. I turned 25. I still can’t really believe that I’m a quarter of a century old. I was marginally concerned about how I would spend my birthday considering I’m away from family and most of my friends who are in Melbourne, but I ended up having a great weekend.

   I went out for dinner on Friday night at this amazing Northern Thai place (no pad thai here!) with Kieran, then went out clubbing with a friend who came to Sydney for my birthday, as well as Kieran and some of his friends. The club was doing a nineties night…it was fantastic to dance and sing along to Britney, the Backstreet Boys, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Salt n Pepa, etc. Then on the Saturday, I went to Taronga Zoo with Kieran, and got to see the three new Sumatran tiger cubs who are only about two or three months old…so adorable! I spent Saturday night in with Tracey, Xuan and my Melbourne friend, and we watched girly movies, painted our nails and ate bacon. Sunday was a bludgey recovery day, but I went out for dinner again.

2. I went to my first wedding. Can you believe I’d never been to a wedding before now? It’s largely because all my extended family obviously live overseas so I never had occasion to go to a cousin’s wedding. All my parents family friends have kids who are younger than me so they weren’t getting married. And none of my friends seem to be the marrying type! Anyway, Kieran’s mate from university got married, and I went as his date. It was quite a simple and casual wedding – a watered down Catholic ceremony in a small country church (the bride was Catholic), followed by a picnic/reception in a mountainous national park, and then drinks down at the local pub. Luckily the weather was absolutely beautiful for it as it was pretty much all outside!

   It got me thinking about how I want my wedding – and I think my one big takeaway was that I don’t want a church wedding. The couple tried to be very inclusive of all faiths in their service, but I felt hypocritical being in a church for a service when I don’t believe in religion. I simply wouldn’t feel comfortable getting married in a church, but by the same token, wouldn’t feel comfortable getting married on the beach which seems to be the default second option for most Australians. I’d be more inclined to hire out a beautiful scenic winery, or I love the idea of holding a reception somewhere like the State Library of Victoria. All something to think about.

3. Work has been good. I’ve been doing a lot of work online and with some external publications, which has been very interesting. My colleagues are (largely) fun – we’re having a big “girl’s night out” tonight which should be interesting. I’ve been told (warned?) that these nights tend to get pretty messy…I’m interested to see what people are like away from the office! You know how people have work personas and out of office personas? It’ll be interesting.
4. My friends haven’t abandoned me. As I mentioned earlier, a friend came up from Melbourne for my birthday weekend which was amazing. I’ve got another friend coming to Sydney next week so we’ll catch up, and yet another friend coming next weekend for work. Then a group of my girl friends from high school are talking about road tripping up to Sydney to see me between Christmas and New Years – AND my parents plan on sending my brother up to visit me in that time too. I was originally apprehensive of moving to a new city and leaving my support network behind, but that really hasn’t been the case – they’ve just followed me for random visits.

   It’s as my manager at work said actually – when you move to a new city, you become a destination for friends and family. They may not have originally thought of visiting that city before, but once you’re there, they’ll come and visit you and you won’t be alone. I’m thankful for that.

5. …and I already covered off on the housing situation.

Finally, sarcastic travel posts aside, I do actually have some serious “This is what I did/bought in America” posts planned with much less sarcasm. Not a dearth thereof, just less. Somehow, I don’t think they’ll be quite as popular.

And I’m not even joking. I was approached by a million American men brandishing glass dildos. All American men are dirty sleazes.

As for the relationship itself, suffice it to say that we have known each other probably for about three or four years now, and that he is the best friend of a guy I have always considered my brother from another mother. It all started nearly a year ago, but intensified in the past few months. I have met his parents, and he has met mine. We see each other two or three times a week. We eat out a lot. We stay in and make dinner together. We watch movies. We went to a museum. We sleep together. We spent a weekend up at the Hunter Valley (vineyards) together. I made him clean out his room so that it’s inhabitable (it’s a work in progress).

I think most importantly considering some of the reactions so far that have been along the lines of “oh, so that’s why you moved”, I should state that this is not the reason I moved up to Sydney. I first floated the idea publically in January this year, and had been contemplating it for a while before the announcement. Nothing of permanence really happened between us before the decision, and it wasn’t until later in the year when I moved closer to making the move a reality that we even considered being together, as long distance wasn’t ever going to be an option.

Anyway, you probably don’t need to know anymore. If you’re desperate though, there’s always Twitter, Tumblr, or Facebook stalk him.

As for the movie itself…I cried. There was laughter and love, but it was mostly tears. I feel like a part of my childhood has died with the series. How do you even begin to say goodbye to something that has been part of your life for so long? That’s part of the reason I’m so excited about Pottermore – it’s an opportunity to revisit a part of my life in an entirely new format. It would be like falling in love all over again.

I had a pretty warm and fuzzy last week of July as well.

In regards to my job applications, I removed my residential address from my letterhead and immediately got an informational phone call. After talking with the HR coordinator, I came to the conclusion that that particular role wasn’t right for me and turned down the chance for an interview, but the very fact that I got a phone call after removing my address has proved to me that I actually am employable. Distance was clearly not my friend when applying for jobs, but hopefully my luck picks up now that I’ve removed my address.

I’m getting on quite well with my new housemate. I do find it difficult to understand him at times though, which is probably a combination of the Kiwi accent and the fact that he’s a mumbling kind of guy. We’re probably friendlier than I was with Mr. Swedish Future Doctor who was quite solitary. His girlfriend is moving to Australia in two weeks, so he’s likely to be moving out within a month anyway.

I’m slowly getting used to my haircut. It’s requiring me to blow dry my hair at night, and use smoothing serum and all that kind of stuff though…which is about 100% more time than I used to spend on my hair.

You can still sponsor me for Run Melbourne! The event is in two weeks, so there’s still plenty of time to donate a few dollars. I’m hoping that the blister on my heel (caused by a new pair of runners) will heal by then. How ironic though, that a new pair of runners might throw into jeopardy my participation in the run, and reduce me to hobbling my way through the race.

I have purchased something that means I don’t need to have a man around. Let’s just leave it at that.

I’ve not planned much for my trip to America in October. To tell you the truth, the initial euphoria has lifted, and I’m really just playing a waiting game at the moment. It all seems so far away, and there’s so much happening in my life between now and then. I probably won’t make any definite plans until September. A high school friend has decided to come along for the trip, and has booked the same flights. I do normally prefer travelling alone (you get to spend time doing what you want to do, not what others want to do), but I have the feeling it would be a lot more fun travelling America with a girlfriend, road trip style. At the moment we’re planning on doing Los Angeles, driving down to San Diego, Greyhounding to Las Vegas, Amtraking to San Francisco, flying to Seattle, flying to Vancouver and back to Los Angeles for a flight back out. I do enjoy meeting up with ‘internet people’, so if you fancy going out to dinner or something, do let me know!

I’m still actively using my cross-trainer a number of nights each week, so it hasn’t become one of those cliched pieces of exercise equipment that just sit in the corner gathering dust. It gets a bit squeaky every now and again, so I spray a bit of canola oil on it occasionally. I should probably be using proper axle grease (or whatever it is you’re supposed to use on squeaky hinges), but I’m clearly not DIY enough to own that. Canola spray oil will do as a substitute!

I’ve become surgically attached to my iPhone. I’m a bit worried about it though – reception has been playing up a bit and I’ve been having problems receiving calls, sending texts, etc. I don’t know whether that’s a network or hardware issue though…I have to find some time to take it to the Genius Bar.

I got a Distinction for my Masters unit this semester. One more unit to go…next semester will be killer though. Study materials don’t come out until late July, and I leave the country for a month by early October. I need to do thirteen weeks worth of study and two assignments in eight weeks, in order to have everything done before I go on holiday. And there’s really no other choice – I don’t want to have to do homework while I’m on holiday!

And finally for something totally unrelated to any previous entries, I am trying to convince my parents to pay for my brother and me to go to Greece and Italy for two weeks over the Christmas break. Essentially, they don’t like him sitting around at home playing video games on the school holidays. The only place he’s recently shown interest in visiting is Greece and Rome because he’s been studying mythology and ancient history. I’ve never been to Greece and Rome. My parents would never want to go to Greece and Rome.

My conclusion – they should pay for flights and accommodation for me to take my brother to experience some culture and history. I’ll pay for food, souvenirs, sight-seeing, in-country transport, and all that other stuff for both of us. It’s a win win situation. My parents don’t have my brother sitting at home through the school holidays. He gets to visit some places he’s actually interested in with the guidance of someone who’s used to travelling independently of a generic tour group. I get a significantly cheaper trip to Europe. I don’t see how this suggestion could be at all bad.

For once in my life, I’d like to be taken care of. It’s not about becoming a ‘kept woman’. It’s about having someone who’s adult enough to handle their own responsibilities, can support themselves and plan for the future. It’s about having someone who I don’t have to take care of as a dependent. I’ve been the adult for so long that I’d rather like having someone who knows what night the trash goes out and takes it out without me having to prompt them. Or someone who does their taxes before they’re due without constant reminders to get them in so they don’t penalised. Someone who has their shit so together that they can easily spend time on me and spoil me for once.

In short, next time around I expect their Life IQ would have to be much higher than my own. They’d have to be further along in their career (and have an actual career). They’ll have moved out of the family home, lived in a sharehouse, and moved on to the next stage of having their own place. They’ll know how to cook, clean and handle household matters. They’ll also be educated, and have travelled widely. They’ll be financially secure with savings and assets more significant than my own. Their interests will extend beyond playing video games and watching YouTube videos – they’ll be an avid reader of books, keep up with current affairs and enjoy movies about more than action heroes.

Essentially I want someone more mature than myself who has their shit together. I don’t think it’s too much to ask. For the next few months however, I think I’m going to focus on myself. To get my shit together, to connect with old friends, to make new friends, to be completely happy with who I am and what I’m doing with my life.

The situation really called for an examination then, courtesy of Wikipedia entries and Google Image Search, of the various European princely bachelors under the age of 40, and above the age of 18, and then, to list them in order of preference.

1. England: Prince Harry
2. Monaco: Prince Andrea
3. Belgium: Prince Amadeo
4. Monaco: Prince Pierre
5. England: Prince William
6. Sweden: Prince Carl Philip
7. Albania: Prince Leka
8. Luxembourg: Prince Felix
9. Liechtenstein: Prince Wenzeslaus
10. Luxembourg: Prince Guillaume
11. Greek/Denmark: Prince Philippos

Contestants were judged by their cool factor, their hotness factor, their fun factor, and their “would I want to wake up beside this man in fifty years time without any regrets” factor.

But really, I just want a bit of Harry.

Obviously William is no longer a bachelor, so he’s off the list. Prince Leka is apparently now engaged, so is also not a contender. Prince Wenzeslaus is dating a Victoria’s Secret model, so I’m not even going to try to compete with that.

…But really, there’s no point in considering the others on the list, because echoing my closing sentence from 2007, all I want is just a bit of Harry. Judging by their behaviour during yesterday’s telecast though, it seems like Pippa Middleton’s going to get to Harry before I do!

I lost $13,000AUD in readily available cash this month. Of course, when I say ‘lost’, I mean that I pulled that amount from my savings, and put it on my mortgage. This move essentially meant that while my cash reserves are now relatively low ($10,000AUD), I have managed to reduce the term of my mortgage by three and a half years. I hope to do more of the same by the end of this year – ideally to put another $5000AUD onto my mortgage (reducing my mortgage by another year and a half). This will be made easier by the fact that when I leave my two part-time jobs (I’m obviously currently searching for one full-time position), I’ll be due for an unused leave payout of over $5000AUD.

The discrepancy between my income and expenses was approximately negative $11977.85AUD (or positive $1022.15AUD if you don’t count the $13KAUD extra mortgage payment). Current net worth: $87,711.90AUD. Net worth is made up of:

• Physical assets: $507,800AUD
• Cash, savings, shares, superannuation, etc: $14,958.21AUD
• Mortgage debt and parental loan: LESS $435,046.31AUD

Plans for the future: My income will decrease from now on, as Dylan has moved out on my request. It was unfeasible for him to continue living with me without being employed, because he simply couldn’t contribute equally, if at all. So I will no longer get his contribution of $0-$300 a fortnight. On the flipside, I’ll be saving a lot more money:

1. I won’t have to buy groceries for two people, and will be buying less meat as I don’t eat meat much when living alone. A more grain and vegetable based diet will be much cheaper – I could easily cut a third of my grocery bill.
2. My electricity bills will drop. He’ll move his six foot fish tank out of the apartment which means I will no longer pay for his aquarium lights to be on twelve hours a day, or the water pumps, filters, and heater to be on 24/7.
3. My water bills will drop. I’ll do less loads of washing, and won’t have to wash my sheets as often as I don’t sweat the way he does.
4. My petrol costs will drop. I always seem to be the one who fills up the tank, where he does 70% of the driving. I should be able to get by on $15 a week on petrol now.

Considering the above, I will definitely be better off financially, especially considering he wasn’t always able to meet his fortnightly contribution. As for what it means for the future – it will be up to him to get his act together and make something of his life. I don’t intend on supporting him when he can find a job and be independent. If and when he does then we can consider living together again. Until then, I’m going to live alone with only Darcy as a dependent.

I have also considered renting out the second bedroom, but am reluctant to do so when I’m unsure of how much longer I will be in Melbourne. There’s the possibility of renting it out on a short-term basis (e.g. six week stints) to backpackers doing a bit of part-time work in Melbourne while travelling…however, I’m wary of this option in terms of security and safety. Quite possibly I will simply live alone until I find a job in Sydney and move!