Good Cop, Bad Cop

A couple of days ago, I was driving home from the gym along Leach Highway when I was overtaken by a police car. As many Perth readers will know, Leach Highway has a speed limit of 70km/hour. I was doing 70. In no time at all, the cops were way ahead of me and must have been doing about 90.

The thing is they didn't have their lights flashing and didn't appear to be in a hurry other than the fact they were obviously speeding. I caught up with them later at a red light. Then when it went green again, they were off, rocketing along at some extravagent speed. I know cops need to exceed the speed limit when they are chasing someone or need to get somewhere urgently. But does that give them a right to break the law they claim to uphold at any old time?

I have the uttermost respect for the police (except the crooked ones, obviously) but it did look like blatant hypocrisy. Do cops have a right to drive at any speed they wish all of the time? I know if I'd been doing 90 in a 70 zone, I'd be a goner.

In Memory of Marmers

Last year, I introduced you to 'my girls' - my two beloved ginger cats in Albany who are longtime family pets. You can read all about them here.

Sadly last Thursday, two became one.

Marmers's health has been deteriorating for some time now and so I made the decision to put her down. My parents were in full agreement with this but I wanted to have the final decision since she was originally my cat.

It wasn't a hard decision and it was motivated by my desire to see her released from her suffering. We were quite sure she was in pain. In the end, Dad ended up taking her to the vet for the final time as Mum just couldn't bring herself to do it. Dad is NOT an animal person but I think even he was sad, just a little bit.

Duncan thought she looked so decrepit and I couldn't help but agree. It's sad watching a body decay whether it be of a human or an animal. She was beautiful once. I can see why the loss of a pet grieves some people so much, particularly the lonely. For some, that pet was their only friend.

We've had Marmers and Ellie for 11 years. They're part of the family and they've been around during some of the most significant changes in my life. One of the greatest things about pets, is that they don't judge you...well not verbally, anyway.

Ellie is a very independent cat and we were wondering if she'd even care that Marmers was gone. But she seems to be fretting, wandering around meowing as if to say, "Where's my sister?" and wanting lots of affection. This is the first time they've been apart in sixteen years.

I want to remember Marmers the way she was when she was young and well.

It was time to put her to sleep. She was a good friend.

Marmers in 1998

Goodbye Little Cannington House

As I've mentioned before, I moved house last month. In fact, it'll be a month tomorrow since the dreaded deed was done.

I hadn't moved for nearly four years so I was a bit out of practice. Despite all the hassles it involves, moving has a number of benefits. First of all, it motivates you to actually go through your stuff and have a good throw out. Stuff just tends to build up and although I claim to be a minimalist, I was quite embarrassed by the amount of junk I was shown to have. Duncan even said to me, "You're a hoarder, honey," as I passed him box after box.

Secondly, once we'd finished cleaning, my place was the cleanest it'd ever been, inside and out. As we moved what little furniture I did have, I was shocked to find thick layers of dust on the carpet and cobwebs on the walls. After hours of labour, it was so clean I wanted to move straight back in.

I don't know where I'd have been without my merry team of slaves - Duncan, Craig, Emma and Rhianon - who gave up parts of their day to help with the ardurous task. A big thank you to them!

After living in a place for nearly four years, I guess it's understandable that I became a little attached to it. My house certainly isn't in that great shape physically. Something was always breaking and we'd have to call the dreaded real estate agent who'd take a century to send someone to fix it. On the day I moved, both the front and back flyscreen doors had come off their hinges and the disgusting avocado-coloured carpet was starting to disintegrate. The whole inside needs renovating, the reticulation doesn't work properly, I could go on....

But it was my home and, after student housing, it was like a palace to me. A home is created by the people who live there despite the physical condition of the place. I have some great memories from my time there and also some pretty rotten ones but when you live somewhere for a resonable period of time, that's always going to be the case.

It was with great sadness that I locked the front door for the final time. It was the last time I would ever call that place home, to come driving into the complex and have Ebony waiting for me. But change is necessary and it was time to move on.

Now I'm in my new place with Sarah and Joanna at an undisclosed location (*wink*). I'm still adjusting to living with different people with different ways of doing things. In a couple of weeks, Joanna will be moving out so we'll be getting someone new - even more changes on the horizon. I'm further away from most of my friends, further away from the gym, from church and from work, although I've discovered that going to work on the freeway is actually a lot quicker than the way I took from my old house. Less traffic lights for a start!

It's exciting to explore a whole new neighbourhood and it's only for another three months until I start married life.

Goodbye Little Cannington House (haha yes I used to live in Cannington, I can admit it now that I've gone and no-one can stalk me).

Thanks for the memories!

We Made It!!!

Last Saturday the 5th January, Duncan and I celebrated our one year anniversary. Can you believe it's been a year?!? A whole year since that phone call late at night on Friday 5th January 2007 when Duncan FINALLY asked me out and he thought I didn't sound too enthusiastic at first. But I was, I really was. So much that after we hung up, I went and woke Emma up in a very excited state and told her the good news.

Duncan was in Perth for the weekend so we decided to spend the whole of Saturday together, celebrating our anniversary. Okay, I know some of you have probably been married for YEARS and think 'a year of dating/being engaged'....ha, that's nothing.' But it was a big deal for us. A couple of days after we started going out, we experienced opposition from a third party intent on breaking us up. It was really stressful and I wondered whether our relationship was worth all this trouble. Obviously it is and we got through it thanks to God. I'm SO happy things have turned out the way they did and I believe we were both made stronger people because of it.

For our anniversary, I took Duncan out for lunch and he took me out for dinner. I feel bad letting him pay all the time, even though I had very little money at the end of last year, but I just wanted to do something nice for him. He chose The Secret Garden in South Perth for lunch and I told him I wanted fish and chips for dinner which we ate at the South Perth foreshore. Haha no-one can accuse me of being high maintenance!

We'd only been together just over two weeks in this photo

Wedding 7

The final wedding I went to in 2007 was held on the 24th November (election day). My cousin Huw got married to Anna in the gardens of Caves House in Yallingup. It was also the only non Christian wedding I went to last year.

Anna is Swedish and the original plan was that the wedding was going to be in Sweden a year earlier. I was so excited as it was going to be my first overseas trip. But then their daughter Linnea arrived and plans were shelved for a while then changed a fair bit. They first met in London but have been back living in Perth for the last few years.

After the ceremony, we mingled in the gardens before heading into Caves House for the reception. The day was also stinking hot which was surprising for down south in November. During the reception we all joined in singing many well-known songs which apparently is a Swedish tradition for weddings.





































For more photos, check out my Photobucket album.

So that's it! Seven weddings in 2007! Will it be eight in 2008? Well, we've got six to go to by the end of April (including our own) so it's possible. Who knows who else will decide to get hitched this year?

I also aim to be a bit more regular with posting photos this year (one of my 'resolutions' I guess) :)

Wedding 6

The sixth wedding I went to this year was the wedding of Faye and Michael. Faye is another one of Duncan's third cousins and the sister of Clayton from Wedding 5.

This was another Perth wedding with beautiful weather. It was slightly unusual in a few ways. First of all it was held on the Monday public holiday of the 1st October. Secondly, on the invitation, guests were asked not to wear shoes to the wedding. Goodness knows why but apparently this was Faye's idea and the entire bridal party were barefoot. We and many others did not comply with this request. I'm not a fan of the barefoot thing unless it's at home or the beach since my toes always end up stepped on or I step on something not very nice.

The ceremony was at Gosnells Baptist Church and they also did the afternoon tea reception thingy and this was held at the Keswick Convention Centre.

Happy New Health!

While all of you were probably out celebrating the start of the New Year a few days ago, guess where I was?

In bed.

Yep, I was sick.......again!

But on New Year's Day, I had reason to celebrate as it was my first full day out of bed. It's surprising that when you're sick, you end up celebrating small mercies such as being able to eat a little bit, have a shower, walk around and so on.

A week ago, Duncan and I were down in Dunsborough at his parents' place when I first got sick. Believe me, you don't want this thing! It's like gastro and the flu all in one...so you get EVERYTHING! I was bedridden for a few days and when Duncan and his auntie tried to help me get from my bed to the loungeroom, I fainted on the kitchen floor.

We got back to Perth on New Year's Eve, a couple of days later than we planned and therefore missed out on our friend Craig's birthday party which had an 'International Dress' theme. I was very disappointed as I LOVE costume parties!

Since I got back, I've been pretty much stuck in my new house which is like a furnace during the day because there is no aircon or insulation.

So it's fair to say that this THING pretty much ruined the end of my holiday. I was getting more and more frustrated and struggling to give thanks to God in every situation. My immune system is pretty low right now due to a busy and stressful past few months so it's not surprising that I'm picking up so much stuff.

But there is good in everything. One of my 'resolutions' for this year was to lose a couple of kilos before the wedding. This virus helped me achieve that. Hey, it may not be the most recommended weight loss method around.....but it works!

Special thanks must go to my man who was my faithful nursemaid while I was sick. He was amazing to put up with me and I really hope he doesn't get sick too.