There's always one thing that you promise to not think about and always do. For most people its regrettable memories or bad thoughts you wished never occurred.
At the moment, it's a few good memories which I have failed to forget. It saddens me when I know of better times and that when the little things are taken for granted, it usually doesn't last too long...
But contrary to this, I'm happy that a new beginning has arrived. It's made me think of the things I missed so I can cherish it much more than I once did. It's made me think of the things I should do differently or keep the same.
But most of all, it's made me think of how happy I have become;
'smile,; only the memory of your smile is all I need to pass each day,.. each week,... each month....
So this is my first post on my first technological advancement since my laptop computer. I just recently got myself a Nokia n900 after completely wrecking my n95. It now sits alongside my once upgraded gadgets comprising of an MD player I bought on eBay and random mp3 players and digital cameras which, due to the update of operating software, make them terribly hard to find drivers for. Sometimes I hate how fast technology advances....
This past week and a half has been one with a couple of firsts for me. Ever since my last post, I seriously cannot remember what I've done with my time until the past week or so. Two weeks suddenly just passed by which may have been due to work at the sixer starting again. Actually, that's probably it.
So I started work again and apart from the fact that I'll be able to survive again, my new found passion for cooking has made the whole work environment a lot better endured. The saying fresh is best is no lie. I've found motivation for cooking and as a result have been playing with my food a fair bit; before cooking it of course. I've started to experiment with a lot of ingredients these days which may have been due to going grocery shopping for the first time in a month or so (mum looks after us pretty good). Copying a fellow chef, I used Rosemary to make Rosemary skewered prawns which were pan fried in butter. Absolutely beautiful when he made it, absolutely not awesome when I made it at home with month old frozen prawns.
Work has overlapped into time at home when I'm trying to think of new ways to cook and eat chicken breasts. I guess it's not so much as described as work as I'm enjoying it but the habit of having my tea towel draped across my shoulder and the need to clean up dishes after finishing doesn't seem to stray too far; I think it's a good habit.
In talking about food at home, the chicken breasts, tuna and protein shakes have allowed me to dust off another couple of kilograms, sitting me on 109kgs after training. For the first time since high school, I am under 110kg and am loving absolutely every moment of it. My energy levels have been a lot higher and my overall mood has been a much more positive outlook to life. I'm not in the best shape nor am I the prettiest (even though I'd like to think otherwise) but just having someone notice that I've lost some weight or say I look a bit better, just makes everything seem more worth it. Thanks mum. :S
....and all my wonderful mates.
Uni life has been great. I've been really enjoying my practicals these past couple of weeks but that's probably because I've started to actually make some new friends. My prac partner, even though she has little to say is pretty cool. I overheard one of our tutors saying how great we work together, especially when amazingly there's great communication even though there's little of it. I guess all good communication is one that can be understood, hopefully the times I stuffed up this semester won't deter her from helping me out next semester. I've also caught up with a long lost friend who coincidentally was in my prac class as well. It's funny how the rekindling of old motivation for a love occurs when talking about it's history...
The things life sometimes throws at you hey? Not quite sure whether I should throw it back or hold onto it. It does add a couple of more good reasons to life though, maybe let time run its course.
To be continued.
Upon arrival at the Mariot hotel, we were greeted by great tan coloured fans which other than merely moving the air around it, showed just how grand this hotel was. We regrouped at the entrance to the restaurant in front of a rock pool shooting water from a fountain, to be served by a waiter in a suit whom showed us around. For the first time in my life, I was introduced to the foods that I would be eating and shown to their locality. There were wood-fire pizzas which were made on the spot and the local seafood which comprised of the prawns, bugs and oysters were the freshest I’ve ever seen. The oysters were much creamier than imaginable and the cooked foods were delicious. They had panned fried snapper with hollandaise sauce, oven grilled moreton bay bugs with cracked pepper and tomato and onion chutney. There were more oysters which were oven baked with bacon, lamb cutlets with pepper gravy and bar-b-que chicken which was hand carved by a chef. Assorted breads, salads and cheeses were offered similar to other buffets however the quality of the foods seemed much more superior.
So in we dug, and dug in we did, no time wasted. The food was beautiful to say the least but the company was what made the party. The retelling of stories with the regulars to catch the non-regulars up heard many sounds of laughter and joy. It’s always good seeing everyone at once, it reminds me of the young school days where we’d all see each other everyday, all together, all at once. We laughed when the waitress fulfilled Vinhs need for oranges and were amazed at how much Ross could actually eat.
After an exhausting couple of hours and a delightful couple of dessert plates later, satisfied, we all waddled away to figure what the next plan of action was to be. A suggestion here and a drive there lead us to a new jetty built just off of the broad water car park. It was beautiful and coupled with such a beautiful day, there wasn’t much more that could make me happier. Quangie who fulfilled his attempt earlier to trick me by actually bringing a fishing rod, hit the plastics hard on the jetty while we all sat admiring the day in end. Bondy with his amazing camera took some equally amazing photos. In usual fishing fashion, we caught jack all however it was good fun seeing the Koreans fillet undersized bream and throwing them out in hope for something massive. With the sun setting to leave a hue of red and orange colours swirling in the sky, it was time to end one wonderful day and head for home. We stopped by sunnybank for some late dinner dessert and for those who stayed; we decided that the night was still young. It was about 8 o’clock and after a quick game of starcraft and hon, we decided the next best thing to do was hit Redcliffe for a quick fish.
A dismal cold quiet night turned into an awesome one when Ricky pulled up a massive 52 centimeter flathead on servo prawns. The head on this thing was huge and such a great effort on his behalf to pull the thing from a bridge that high. When the orange and red colours of the sky started to appear again, beneath the darkness, and despite the fact that a new day was about to begin, we decided to end the epic day that was. After filling our stomachs with pre-breakfast maccas, we headed home to Brisbane to our long awaiting beds, for a sleep which could run as late into the day as wanted.
Long weekends are the best! Cont.
I’ve been a little lost these past couple of days, not only due to the fact that my phone finally decided to shit itself, but I think the over-training I did the past couple of weeks has put me down hard.
Its difficult getting up in the morning these days especially when I’ve got no phone to wake me up but the body screams for more sleep and I usually cave in. Sunday was a good sleep where 12 or so hours went under the sheets. The missing may be due to the fact that these past couple of weeks have been pretty full on and the fatigue and restlessness of the physical is finally catching up to me.
We’ve had two long weekends in a row and damn, what those long weekends were! I think I did mention briefly that my birthday was spent as a quiet one early morning at the local internet café together with the close. All seemed to be a year once past again until a hint of reveal from Martin and I guess a little bit of hope on my behalf that a simple fishing trip Sunday morning didn’t seem so simple. A reminder of my over-analyzing personality put me to bed early that night, because surely, two surprise birthdays just didn’t seem a likely chance.
But it was, and confirmed so when Phuccie and Ricky awoke me under a mass of bodies that is the doggie pile in which I noticed Phuccie was slightly overdressed for a short flick session down the coast. When Bindi barged in looking a little less scrubby than usual, and told me to move my arse to get ready and to put something nice on, I could only think of one thing and one thing only; seafooooood buffet, they remembered!
So after a little more or less enthusiastic attempts of the guys whom arrived one by one at the sunnybank maccas to pretend to wonder what I also was doing at sunnybank, a convoy of several cars started to head down the coast. While admiring the two jackal lures martin had given me, I also realized how relaxing it was being a passenger for once. With Bindi driving the Camry, and the much larger seats which accommodated me and the comfortability of the air con breezing past my cheeks to make them cold, it felt like goodness that I’ve been longing to experience once upon a time....
Cont....
It's not about the shoes,
it's about knowing where your going,
not forgetting where you started.
It's about having the courage to fail,
not breaking when you are broken.
Taking everything you've been given,
and making something better.
It's about work, before glory,
and what's inside of you,
is doing what they say you can't.
It's not about the shoes, it's about what you do in them.
it's about being who you are born to be.
Michael Jordan.
