Feeling good about.

Cello.

I'm halfway through my second term of lessons, and I am making pretty good progress. My teacher always says I'm doing well. I'm ahead of the average! I'm pretty impatient though, I want cello to be easy like piano is. So I've had varying levels of satisfaction in my progress. The first couple of lessons were magic, because I WAS PLAYING THE CELLO! And then I realised how hard it was, my hand gets tired of holding the bow, my fingers hurt from the strings, I was playing pretty boring songs. So I just tried to keep practicing consistently, and fortunately because I practiced I got to progress through the boring pieces quickly. During the christmas holidays I mostly had a break. The good thing about that was, I was able to break the habit I had of putting my thumb on the sharpest part of the bow, which hurt. I couldn't change my habit while practicing, but taking a break for a few weeks made me stop it, and then I started again with a better thumb position.

My second term has been exciting. I've been working on bending my elbow, and finally I feel like I'm bowing properly and gracefully. My left hand fingers are stronger so I can play in tune more easily. I am now playing on all four strings and with all four fingers, and this means I'm playing a few pieces of REAL music, a Bach minuet and a Purcell thing. I also like the Suzuki exercises. So I actually enjoy what I'm playing and feel like I'm playing reasonably proficiently. I like that I get a new song and I'm completely awkward at first, but by the end of the week I'm smooth.

Some dumplings in Newcastle.

Some roses I saw last night.

Housemate.

No downsides to this. It's nice. It's easy. She's busy and quiet. She bought us a new fridge.

Work.

I am out of limbo land and a proper permanent employee! I am very grateful for that. This week I've been able to upload a pile of books to various stores, so that's satisfying. My next goal is to work on promoting. Some kind of promotion pack to send to authors to help them get the word out.

We had a social excursion to the chicken farm, which is being turned into free-range eggs. This is a big empty shed with foundations.

This is a shed being set up with grating and nest boxes.

This is the free range area being fenced.

Snow peas.

I decided I need to eat more veg, so I now buy a bag of snow peas every week. They are nice enough to eat without dip, and they don't need to be cut. I just wash them and eat them out of the bag and give all the stalks to Percy. I think I prefer them to banana actually. A lot more expensive though. Per kilo. But maybe you pay for a lot of heavy skin with banana that you don't eat.

Singleness.

I feel like I'm doing good stuff encouraging single women. The ones who say that they feel a bit weird to be going against culture and not hating singleness, I endorse their position, and the ones who are trying to be married and doing online dating, I've tried an online dating website once so I can identify with that. I don't want to change people to all be like me, I know some people just want marriage and that is a good desire and a good thing to pursue if you can. But I do want to see less stigma and pity and self-pity. And just be realistic and open about it, and keep it in perspective.

Mac.

I have achieved a personal goal, bought a Mac! In anticipation of getting the Internet. Means I haven't saved anything towards my mortgage since I moved in; I first repaid my parents then bought a table then this laptop. I'm going to plug away and save for a while now, then make my next purchase which could be a keyboard.

If you have a 9am appointment at the apple store, you see them through the glass having a pow wow. Then at 8.58 they spread around the store and stare at the customers waiting outside staring in. Then at exactly 9am, the doors slide open and they give a round of applause to us as we walk awkwardly in.

Worklife.

I'm currently on a temporary contract that ends on 28th Feb. The ongoing position was advertised at the end of last year, and I applied for it, and had my interview today, and really it has felt like the thing I've been building towards since I left Sydney. It's almost a year since I left. The 1 year mark will hopefully coincide with a job offer, and then I can finally feel like I'm properly here. I've always been thinking "in case I don't get the job" and "if I have to move". I have a pile of moving boxes in the garage to remind me. But at the same time I've just got on with my life, bought a house, got a housemate, and basically been settling down. But every decision has had the "if I don't get the job" scenario alongside it.

So the interview is done, and I'm happy with how it went. I didn't blow it, there's nothing I'm kicking myself about. I was prepared, I felt confident, sounded articulate, I think my answers were well considered, and I tried to not talk about already working there but refered to MM experience a lot. Because I felt like that was an opportunity, to present myself and my experience formally so they would have a better idea of me as a package. It was a danger that I'd take for granted that they know me and leave out the things you normally present, but I think I covered it well. It has been 8 years or so since my last job interviews and I guess I'm more mature and confident now and I have more experience to talk about. Therefor I would say it was my best job interview ever.

My flowers this month (roses because $10 at markets and valentine appropriate):

As you can see I don't mind a bit o' doily.

In other life news:

The working week has a rhythm. Monday has a few meetings, which load me up with work. Then I spend the rest of the week trying to follow through. Most of my work and personal activities are at the start of the week so I feel weary and stressed on Monday about everything I have to do, Wednesday is well and truly hump day, and TGIF on Friday. I didn't used to have such a defined rhythm, it was all much of a muchness in Sydney and at MM, or MM had a quarterly cycle really, but now I fit the work week cliche.

I try and get to work at 8am usually, so that I have enough time after work before dinner to do a drawing (before it gets dark) or do Jillian (so I don't have any excuse of being hungry) or go to my cello lesson. Friday is a day I don't have to do anything other than work, so I don't have to get up and to work as early, and I might have a little treat like a hot cross bun and a cup of tea with my breakfast, before I go to work. 

Monday: Jillian, Life course

Tuesday: Drawing, bible study

Wednesday: Jillian

Thursday: Cello lesson, drawing

Friday: Drawing

I try and fit cello practice in on most days. Sometimes I do food shopping or something else instead of drawing. I do 3 or 4 drawings a week usually.

I've got a housemate. It is working out well so far. It's different than in the past, where we shared rent. It's a bit different that its my house and she pays me, but I'm trying to keep it even and not be the boss of the house. On the plus side, it's different because it is bigger, so there is less sharing really. Individual bathrooms. 2 TVs. And in terms of her personality and lifestyle, she is quiet and busy, which is what I like. She isn't in and out in a chaotic dramatic way, and she isn't an introvert who wants to stay at home all the time. She is out and about a lot, and nice to be around when she is home.

The fun highlight has been I went to another markets on the weekend! The Sacred Tree markets in Branxton, a small boring town up the valley. They are small but good quality markets. Good food, cheap flowers, the usual trendy trinkets. I spend all my money on food. I went with Taire from Nail and Twine photography who is having a stall there next month http://www.nailandtwine.com.au/, and we saw another aqauintance of ours painting faces, she does amazing work, only $5. Frozen snowflakes, pansies, completely beautiful. You can see the number of brushes and things she has.

I have also enjoyed when I take Percy to work. Sometimes he is a bit bothersome if he really wants a scratch and just annoys my hand to get one.

 But by and large he either hangs out in his cage quietly or sits on his branch chortling.

The most adorable thing is that he tries to scratch his own head for pleasure. He holds his foot up and slowly rotates his head against it. He yawns when he is relaxed.

Boring is nice.

Nothing particularly wonderful to blog about lately, I've had a quiet February so far. Big things are afoot though, I'm expecting my job interview next week. And a housemate is moving stuff in on the weekend.

Photo of the teapot lid I broke and repaired,

the teacup lid I broke and repaired,

the teapot I found for my colleague, which he bought, it is cool,

the flowers I bought myself.

My house finally has a table!

Other than that, I'm doing Jillian regularly which is good, cello lessons have restarted, I've managed a few drawings each week, went back to bible study. These are the main things I try and fit into my life.