Weekend reading

Regular readers and my twitter family will know that recently I made the joyous discovery of the work of George R. R. Martin. It was a happy day for me (seriously, where has he been all my reading life?). I am however stalled in my reading of the Song of Ice and Fire books, being unable to obtain a copy of the next one, due to a combination of funds, and lack of library copies.

Thus, I turned to my to-read pile. Alas, it was empty! I know, I was shocked too. In desperation, I looked to my bookcase. Here, I keep all the books I cannot bear to part with or know I will read again. I picked out a Terry Pratchett that I hadn't looked at in years but the next day something else caught my eye.

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It was Bill Bryson's 'At Home'. I had bought it on a whim one day at Toombul, it was $10 and I had seen it some weeks before selling for $40 so I figured it was a bargain. I had lent it to mum first, and she had handed it back saying it was suprisingly good. I had put it on my bookshelf, forgetting that I hadn't read it yet.

I have only ever read Bryson's travel journals before, but found them highly entertaining. I read the Australian one whilst on holiday in Europe just because I liked the irony of the thing.

For some unknown reason, I abandoned Pratchett (sorry, Pterry) and picked up Bryson. And was delighted. This book is highly entertaining, for all the subject matter sounds dreary and dull. He manages to make the evolution of domestic life something utterly fascinating, and the stories he has unearthed while writing it are simply amazing. At the beginning there was a lot of stuff I had forgotten being taught from my Archaeology subjects at uni (the Olduwan, the Levant, Catal Huyuk!) but there were still a lot of surprises. For instance, did you know that noboby knows how people genetically modified corn? No wild plant even remotely resembles it; it must have taken centuries for folk to breed a corn plant that produced the cobs we know today from available fauna. Amazing stuff.

So I'm thoroughly enjoying this tome, for a tome it is - quite hefty to lug around in my bag but well worth the effort. I'm learning such fascinating things about electricity, furniture and rooms.

What are you reading at present? Would you recommend it?

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Leaving on a jet plane

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This blog has been a little silent of late. The reason being is I haven’t felt the need to post anything. I usually do participate in a few link-ups on the weekend however I was visiting my parents the last few days and in between helping mum with her computer, a big family birthday party and generally lolling about I didn’t really think about blogging!

Today I’m going on a work trip. My company is sending me to Sydney for 2 days to complete a training course, along with a few other newbies. I’m flying out tonight and coming home Thursday. This means two nights and two days away, coming straight after 3 days away at the farm. I’ll be missing my darling a lot by the time I come back, I bet.

But at the same time I’m kind of excited. I love flying. I love that surge of speed when the engines spool up and engage, and the plane shoots forward on the runway. I sit there grinning, thinking about the unbelievable amount of air that is being forced through the jet engines and generating enough speed and lift to get the great hulking behemoth off the ground. I’m not so excited about landings, I must admit (I dislike the way the descent makes my stomach drop) but it’s worth it for that feeling you get on take-off.

The engineering of an aeroplane is a fascinating thing, should you be interested in the way things work like I am. Fortunately I am engaged to a guy that is an aircraft maintenence engineer, so he explains things to me. Did you know that a plane has about as much aerodynamic-ness as a brick? It's not the shape that makes it able to fly - it's the mysterious forces of physics.

I’m also kind of looking forward to the novelty of my first “business trip” and the all-expenses paid accommodation and food. We’re staying at an airport hotel, so won’t get to see anything of the city, but I don’t mind because I’ve seen most of Sydney multiple times!

Do you ever travel for work? Does it lose its novelty quickly?

Ooh! That's Pinteresting! - Doors

My mother has a slight obsession with doors and windows. Whenever she's overseas, she's always take photos of interesting doors, and landscapes through windows. I was thinking of her when pinning this week, when I stumbled on a pin of a beautiful yellow door.

There was a lot to uncover under the search term, let me share some with you.

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I don't know about you, but I have a sudden urge to paint my front door!

Linking up with tinagray.me's Ooh! That's Pinteresting!

Surely a Bride - honeymoon hiccup

I'm blogging on "Surely a Bride" today. We've had a bit of a honeymoon hiccup.

Click on over and read all about my lack of organisational motivation messing things up a bit.

Taken over by fear

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I don’t normally blog about intensely personal things, particularly things to do with my relationship. But I had such an emotional time last night, I need to write about it. Here’s what happened.

My fiancée was working yesterday at a contract job about a half hour’s drive away. He expected to finish up about 9pm. I got a text from him at 9.30pm saying he was nearly done and would be home soon.

But he wasn’t.

I waited another hour before calling and texting. Got messagebank, no response to my text. I went to bed. I could not sleep. I kept telling myself that nothing was wrong, he had probably been delayed or sent to another job for a few hours. He had told me earlier that day that his boss was talking about sending him to another job for a few hours after his first shift ended. He had also mentioned his mobile was playing up.

I couldn’t sleep, and C didn’t come home. I started calling his mobile every half hour, the last two times the line went straight to messagebank without even ringing. I lay there trying not to think about what might have happened. He has been riding a motorbike recently with his truck off the road (yes, again, please spare me the rolled eyes) and has borrowed a mate’s bike to get around.

I hate motorbikes. As a child, my friend’s father was killed instantly when a woman ran a stop sign and ploughed into him. My brother nearly killed himself on the farm bike numerous times (once our dog lead us up the paddock to find him unconscious after knocking himself out riding over a contour bank). I have explained that in my opinion, motorbikes get you killed, but C would tell me not to worry, he is a good rider. My response: it’s not your riding skills I’m worried about – it’s all the other drivers on the road who don’t see you in their blind spot.

After a while my thoughts turned morbid. I thought about him lying dead on the road somewhere. I prepared myself for a call from the police. I thought about what time I should start calling hospitals to see if he had been admitted. I thought about what I would do if he died. While thinking about this and crying a bit, I fell asleep.

At 1am I heard the motorbike pull up the driveway. I raced outside, and it was really him. I cannot tell you the relief I felt. Turns out he had been sent to that other job for a few hours. And his mobile was stuffing up. He assured me he had tried to call and text me heaps of times, and when I had rung him his phone wouldn’t let him answer the call.

So, other half not dead. Emotional rollercoaster of fear thankfully over. But I’m not liking Apple right now.

Pinteresting - Gardens and herbs

This week I've been thinking about gardens. Because though I possess a "black thumb" and do no gardening myself, I like looking at other peoples' green stuff. Plus I'm wanting to grow some herbs (more on that in an upcoming post) and have been looking around for pretty ideas for herb pots. I am especially in love with the tea tins. So rustic!

Linking up with tinagray.me's Ooo! That's Pinterst...ing!

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I Heart My Body 2011

I struggled a bit with body image in my teens and early 20s. I was always the slightly-larger girl, never slim enough to fit into trendy clothes, or pull off the kind of outfits my friends never gave a second thought. Additionally, I'd had huge boobs since primary school and it was hard sometimes knowing they were the first thing people noticed about me!

I never hated my body but didn't think that much about it - except when I couldn't find clothes in my size at the shops.

Meeting my partner was a big revelation. He thinks I'm pretty (hee hee) and LOVES my big boobs and hips, and every lump and bump. He even loves my frizzy hair and snub nose. I only realised that I do in fact have a tiny waist when he told me! I have resolved recently to try to dress to emphasie this more, as I really feel it's an asset.

I bought this dress for our engagement party, and yes it's probably not the most flattering piece of clothing on the planet but it shows the real me - big boobs, belly and hips too. I have large thighs and I was once asked if I had been bitten by something because my ankles appeared "swollen"!

I would have to say my fave body part is my boobs, then my waist, then my hands. Heh. I have lovely hands and fingers, if I do say so myself :p

I think it is important that you love yourself first, and not rely on the validation of others to boost your self esteem. Yes, I adore that my partner loves me just the way I am - but I am comfortable with and love my body interdependently of that. The last few years, I have even become less anxious about appearing in a swimsuit. I'm resigned to the fact that I will never look like a model, and when I look around on the beach, there are more ladies that look like me than look like Miranda Kerr!

My photographer abandoned me this morning, so these are iphone pics in my messy bedroom. I'm not going to ask you to excuse the mess though, because I happen to know you all have similar-looking houses (I love that bloggers tell the TRUTH about these things!) I am sans makeup and hair styling because I wanted to look more "real" - if other brave ladies can post their bodies in their underwear, surely I can post something where I'm completely without product to aid me! When I first heard about the We Heart Life link-up on twitter, I didn't even posting a pic of me in my underwear. I applaud all those folks who have - but it's just not me :)