Still In Perth and going strong

Its been 3 months since I last wrote the blog, and Kristy and I are now well and truly settled in Perth. Kristy and I still love our apartment, the view from the balcony, and that we live close to everything we need. Interestingly, we are 3 minutes walk (if that) to the supermarket, but still Kristy wants to drive!

Speaking of driving, we have another car! Well, I have another car – it is a brand new Mitsubishi ASX, 4-wheel drive. No, no, I have not purchased a brand new car (as if!!! I don’t believe in buying brand new cars – they lose 25% of value as soon as you drive them out of the dealership!). So I hear you all asking, “So why does Linda have a brand new car if she is so against a brand new car?” Well, the answer is simple, I have a job that comes with a brand new car! Yay! And I have to say, this gorgeous silver car is a dream to drive compared to the Van! I love the van, but it sure is good to drive a zippy car that has heating and airconditioning. And... when I take the keys out of the ignition, the car says “See You!” to me (such a friendly!).

My new job is working for Baptistcare, in their HR area, within Learning & Development (of course, because that is what I do!). I have been at Baptistcare for about 6 weeks now, and I have to say that I have not ever worked for an organisation that is so lovely! Baptistcare is very committed to its Values and mission, and that really comes through in its culture. I have worked for, and with, some amazing people (e.g. Cathy, Suzie, Victoria, Peter, Robyn, Marie, Virginia, Quynh, Donna, Agnieszka, Kerrie, Karen, Erin, etc) but never have I worked for a place where EVERYONE wants to be helpful, sharing and works to make it easier and better for everyone. Also, Baptistcare are fully focused on the clients and residents, and everything they do, and every meeting they have, is about making the services better for the elderly, physically disabled and mentally disabled. I am loving the work that I am doing, however it is super busy at the moment and I find myself working 10 hours a day at times. I am currently in the process of recruiting a Training Officer so that I do not have to work these sort of hours forever. I even went into work today, Saturday! Well, aside from that there is a lot to do, I need the money, so all good. Kristy also went into work today. She did 45 minutes work to be paid a minimum of 4 hours!

On top of the work i am doing for Baptistcare, i am also running my part-time massage/beauty business in the evenings and on the weekends, and that business is really starting to take off! In fact, I am working all this Sunday doing massage. Ahhh, no rest for the wicked (thank God, cos it’s waaaaay more fun to be wicked than it is being good!)!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, aside from Baptistcare being the truly nicest organisation in the world, they are also VERY respectable (uh oh). Some business meetings even start with a prayer – which I quite like, even though it is new to me (I like anything with a bit of ritual, pomp or ceremony!). And because we are a Baptist organisation, there is no gambling, drinking or swearing in the office. So, that means no alcoholic drinks on a Friday afternoon, no footy tipping (and they love their footy over here!) and people say “Oh Gosh!” instead of swearing. Although I am sure I have heard the occasion cuss word accidently slip out quietly under someone’s breath (scandalous!) and I maybe have, (just MAYBE I have), had a Terests moment, and dropped the F bomb (opps), but I am sure I had legal reason for doing so (actually I know exactly the reason – damn f@#*ing Excel formulas!). On a side note, I have yet to show my tattoo (haven’t seen one other person there with a tattoo!) and I have come out as gay only to my boss (the timing just hasn’t been right with the others yet – or maybe I am just scared – but scared of what??? Seriously, they are just Baptists, not murderers!)

Kristy is very tired these days, she is working long hours, but still enjoying her job. She likes it best when she drives out to Garden Island – which is an island where the HMAS Stirling is – that is a big naval ship. Garden Island is a navy island – a whole island, just for them! She doesn’t like delivering to Shell much though, they take her phone off her when she goes in there – sorry Kristy, no “Words With Friends” (game she plays on her iPhone) when you are in Shell! To be fair, who doesn’t love that game – “Words With Friends” – very addictive (Sarah, you would have to agree!) And I’m so competitive, I do NOT like losing (yes, Rahni and Alisa – prepare to never win again when you play against me!). If anyone out there wants to have a go with me, then add me – I am Lindaw333. Peter, if you are reading this – do not use cheats anymore – it’s just not sporting!!

I see in the last blog that I mentioned that Kristy and I were going to Rottnest Island. Yes, well, we went. It was average. It was too cold for snorkelling, so essentially, the Island Adventure was a little drab. Apparently the beauty of Rottnest is under the water, not above it, so we missed it. Still, it was fun to take the ferry out there (was only fun cos I took my anti-nausea pills first!) After taking the only bus around the Island – which was very crowded because it was cheapass Tuesday, we then sat on the grass and ate Easter eggs (mmmmmm).

We did see some Quokkas while we were on the island, so action did occur for about 3 minutes! Quokkas are actually nocturnal animals, however they raced pretty quickly out of the bush when Kristy dropped her huge chicken roll on the ground! This was the very same roll that was a foot long and she was boasting that it would last her all day. Hmm, I think she had 3 bites of it before it hit the dirt – and she just stared at it in shock when it was on the ground, in pieces. Then the little furry quokkas came out and started eating it! I touched a quokka (which looks like a cross between a rat and a small wallaby) but Kristy went one better and picked one up! I have the proof in a photo of Kristy holding a quokka up under its armpits (and I think, in that photo, you can see the remains of that chicken roll on the ground – is probably under the big sign that says “Don’t feed the Quokkas”).

Kristy is now playing football for the East Freemantle Sharks, and what a team they are! Like the people at my work, these footy gals are very friendly (must be that Perth people are just mostly lovely!) Also, they are a good team – they are undefeated! And (fanfare please and drum roll in your own heads) Kristy has now played a 100 games of football! This is quite an achievement. And the East Freeo Sharks did a banner for her and everything (although it was a couple of games after her 100th game, cos we all actually didn’t realise that she was playing her 100th game when she played it!–ooops!). Kristy is the BEST player in the team, and that is saying something cos the whole team is good. I am probably bias though, and when I am watching the game, I am only really watching her. Funny though, Kristy can come home from football totally black and blue, with massive bruising and scraps, and not really complain about how she was thrown to the ground and stomped on in a footy match, yet...if I accidently bump her little finger at home, she becomes a major sook – what is that about??? Kristy says it is because, when she is on the field, she is in “the zone”. I say, “toughen up princess” and be in “the zone” when you are at home (I don’t really say that, but I want to!)

Omg, that reminds me, Kristy has said 2 really funny things lately (what would a blog be without a Kristy-ism or two, or more). Karen and Nardie had come to visit us (love you guys – come again!) and we were driving to Margaret River (Kristy and I would live there if we could) and we were all in the car, and talking about babies. Three of us have had children (Karen, Nardie and me), but Kristy has not had children yet. We were saying how it is easy to put on weight after having children. Kristy said, “Well, don’t you lose weight when you are milking the baby?” Yes, you read that right... instead of saying “breastfeeding” she said “milking”. God I love her!

Oh, and also, the other day, we were walking down the street, and I was saying how we should take advantage of a sale that was currently on. And Kristy said, “Yes, we don’t want to knock a gift horse in the mouth.” When you think about it, that sounds much better than “looking” a gift horse in the mouth, doesn’t it!? However, my favourite of her mispronounced mottos would have to be when she told me that, in her group, there were too many CHEFS and not enough Indians. Gold.

Jake came to visit us in Perth too – it was so lovely to see her. With Jake, we went to one of the two gay nightclubs in Perth – The Court. Only 2 gay nightclubs! I’m so used to Melbourne where we have choices! The Court is very popular here, but I have to say that it was filled with a lot of straight couples – weird! You just wouldn’t find that in Melbourne – a gay club filled mostly with straight people. However, the crowd was good and the music was dancie, so we had a fun time.

It is very interesting, and slightly disconcerting, sometimes living here in Perth. Every suburb sounds like it should be 2 hours away and down the coast, (eg Salter Point) and a lot of the time I don’t know what is close by, or “up South” or “down North” or in the “wheat-belt”. When people say to me, “Oh just go up the Kwinana Fwy” I have no idea what direction to go in! And instead of saying “OH&S” here, they say “OSH” (can’t tell you how long it took me to realise that they were talking about the same thing!). At work (like at any workplace) they use a lot of acronyms. For a while it was like another language, however now I actually know what someone is actually saying when they tell me to check the ACC OSH DVD for the BSO at DBC (I’m not kidding – this is a true conversation!)

Interestingly too, in my new workplace, I have been trained up In Cert II Manutention (which is a fancy French form of manual handling). I delivered a short session the other day on the Fundamentals of Manutention and backcare, and someone in the group assumed that I was a physiotherapist! I really did wing that one well! The Manutention course was fun – I would come home each night and practice on Kristy. I can now flip someone onto a bed before they know what is happening – and I can make someone sit down or stand up, even if they don’t want to, just by touching and flexing certain spots on their body! Perhaps these things will one day come in handy?? If not, is just a fun skill to have. I have also delivered sessions on Infection Control - I know the really proper way to wash hands now (this totally supports my germ phobia – yay!)

Oh, a funny (well, not funny, more like ‘slightly amusing’) story – in the Manutention course -- I was putting out the lunch (it was catered for) and as I lifted the party pies and mini quiches out of the hot cabinet, the bowl of tomato sauce dropped. Luckily (please inject a facetious tone) that bowl of sauce landed on my foot. While it did have the “ouch” factor, and I said, very loudly, “OH NO”, sauce on the foot is obviously not a life-threatening event. HOWEVER the others in the group did not see what dropped on my foot. All they heard me saying was OH NO and all they saw was all this red, thick stuff on my foot. They thought it was blood!

People rushed over.

I explained that it wasn’t blood.

People backed off (no-one wanted to clean the sauce off my foot – wonder why!)

People had to eat party pies without sauce that day.

People said to me that I was not to unpack the catering in the future!


Oh yes, and we now have a ½ pet. Well it is not ½ a pet (obviously, because that would be gross), but we spend some time with a pet that belongs to someone else. This is, of course, Kristy’s doing. Snowy (Kristy has even named this pet) the Cat now regularly comes to our place, crying (loudly) in misery to be fed. Kristy feels very sorry for Snowy so she feeds Snowy (mind you, Snowy has a home 2 doors down, and is quite a big, healthy looking cat). As we don’t ‘officially’ own a cat, we don’t have catfood. So lucky Snowy gets given salmon (mine), tuna (Kristys) and roast chicken. Please note: Snowy is not even ‘snowy’, not really even ‘snow like’. A better name would be Patches, but Snowy it has been christened by Kristy, and Snowy it now responds to. This pussy cat even comes into our apartment! Cheeky, naughty Snowy!

Kristy and I saw lots of animals at the Perth zoo the other weekend – we love the zoo! And at the Perth zoo, they have Guides that walk around and explain things about the animals to you, which is pretty interesting. Probably the information I remember the most was about the gigantic tortoise. The Guide told me that you will often see the tortoise rocking back and forth and making strange sounds – apparently that is the tortoise masturbating (rubbing itself on the ground!)! TMI!!!!!! Oh, oh, and if that wasn’t enough! We were watching the Orangutans and there was a couple in together. The big male Orangutan was sitting in a tree, and he started urinating. The crowd watching (us included) all started laughing UNTIL.... the female Orangutan walked underneath him and lifted her mouth to drink his urine! It was like watching a car accident – you didn’t want to look, but you couldn’t peel your eyes away! The crowd (all together, like we had timed it!) went from laughing to going “Eee---ooooo---uuuuk”

Until recently, I have always had pets, especially when my children were growing up – I thought it was important to have pets around children. When I was at Mel’s the last time, she said to me that she wasn’t going to get Elle a pet, because she had grown up without pets, and it hadn’t affected her negatively. I couldn’t believe that I had heard Mel say this! I refreshed Mel’s memory with the pets we had when she was growing up: The dogs that lived with us at various times were Sampson, Kelly, Rascal, Shaggy, Zuka, Austin. The cats that lived with us at various times were Annie, George, Elvis and Coco. There was Wilbur the Budgie (who lived almost forever) and even a rat called Monty. That is TWELVE pets that Mel had forgotten about! When I reminded her, she did remember, but isn’t it amazing that she had totally forgotten about TWELVE pets!!!

For those of you who don’t know – my granddaughter, Elle, turned TWO on the 25th July!!!! I can’t believe that she is two already. I wasn’t there for her actual birthday, but I had flow down to Adelaide a couple of weeks prior, just to fit in a quick visit before I started work. Elle is adorable. Her favourite word is No. You say to Elle, “Do you want to go to bed?” and she replies “Noooooooooo”. You ask Elle if she wants to come inside, and she says “Noooooooo”. You ask Elle if she wants a lollie, and she says “YES!”. Elle loves shoes and brings them over to you to be put on – she loves her gumboots the most! She also loves Dora the Explorer – but who doesn’t!? Once you have seen that Dora, you can’t help but love her – OLA (Dora is Spanish, hence the OLA)

Mel, Elle and Mick have now moved to Wodonga, they have left Adelaide. They are all very happy. It was time to go. Now Mel is near family and she is so much happier!

Oh, oh, oh, funny story about my friend Karen (and this story really is funny!). When she was in New Zealand, a woman asked her what she did for work. Karen told her that she does Salary Packaging. The woman paused for a moment, and asked Karen, “Do you pack any other types of vegetable?” The woman had thought Karen had said that she does CELERY packaging, instead of SALARY packaging. Toooooo funny!!!!!

Emotionally, I have been up and down over these last 3 months. Logan is very unsettled, and so I feel unsettled, and a little bit down (really down sometimes and even a little devastated). Sometimes I find it hard to sleep. My job is busy and stressful at times, which builds upon my anxiety, however I also enjoy the job, so it seems to balance itself out. I miss Melbourne and my family and my friends, but I do like being here in Perth too. Thank you to all my darling family and friends who call me regularly and make sure they stay connected with me – it would be very hard if I didn’t have your chats. Kristy and I spend a lot of time and energy ensuring that we choose and send our nearest and dearest presents, cards or messages on birthdays and special occasions, because being so far away, we want people to know that we remember them and value them, yet still at times I feel very distant from everyone and everything – that just comes with travelling I guess. Lucky I have Kristy, she makes every day a sunny day (awwwwwwwwwww – it’s soppy but true).

I still look forward to Magazine Day (Wednesday) which is when the That’s Life and Take 5 come out. I haven’t won anything for about a year now, so I hope that means a major prize is around the corner.

I feel older (which I don’t like) yet everyone at work cannot believe how old I actually am (which I do like!). I am back on Weight Watchers (which is both good and blah, blah blah at the same time), however Kristy has lost so much bloody weight so I am determined NOT to stay the big fat sausage in this relationship! When did I become the Ompa Lumpa???? How did this happen???? I was size 8 to 10 when I first met Kristy two years ago! THIS CHUBBY MADDNESS HAS GOT TO STOP!!!! So wish me luck on my diet of celery (remember that Karen is packaging it) and sauce (if it hasn’t landed on my foot).

Mandy – hugs and love to you and your family. Sharon – thanks for the late night convo’s. Jake – you inspire me (and make me laugh a lot!). Dustey – it all leads to somewhere. Mel – Wodonga! Woooo hoooo! Karen – go get ‘em. Suzie & Theo – see you soon! Jody – congrats on the new job. Jodi – the zen is where you wanna be. Genevieve – an Environmental Scientist, I’m very impressed! Sarah – love the tatt! Vik – glad you are back from the not-holiday. Rahni and Alisa – you better get the dictionary out! Anita and Mark – see you and the pups soon!!!! Karen G – are you working? Craig – how is the new ute? Elaine – we look forward to meeting Rolly. Deb & Kylie – how are the twins (still milking them?) Peter – let’s talk soon! Cathy and Victoria, thanks for being my referees. Darren – see you when you get to Perth - Woot!

As Kristy always says on FaceBook – That Is All.