Not A Fan of Long Holidays

This is usually the case when i have nothing to do. I thought i had planned out this 4 week break from uni to a T. But i haven't had a shift since the holiday started and i feel like my brain matter is slowly melting. I'm already tired of walking around town like a lost puppy, a few locals are slowly beginning to recognize my face when they see me on the road and i don't consider that as a good thing because it just means to me that i'm beyond bored!

I've been trying to go for a walk about on most days for an hour while i also hunt for another job just in case. But right now, i'm sick of doing either of those things. I just want something to do that's going to set me off on a great high that i can ride until the end of July when uni starts again. The fact that i'm looking forward to getting back to uni work makes people give me the side eye, but i don't care at the moment.

I really need to come up with things i can do away from my laptop that excites my brain. I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Blogger Is Being Difficult

I think Blogger might be suffering from some sort of emotional breakdown because i can't seem to post anything with pictures at the moment. This is a lesson to me that i should consider creating drafts on Blogger as a way to save my post ideas. Hope everyone is having a lovely Wednesday so far? I only have 1 hour and 9 minutes left of Wednesday :)

Learning Patience From Dogs

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I've been doing a lot of people watching lately from my kitchen counter top. You see, the benefits of living on the 3rd floor with lots of windows in the kitchen (which i had a hard time getting used to because you can see in from the road) is that you get to observe people daily while they go on about their business.

I've always noticed the people who walk their dogs for two reasons. The first being that i want a pet. I didn't really grow up with a pet; we did have an Alsatian puppy for a while but he sadly died. We only had him for a few weeks so i never really knew what it felt like to have a pet. Back home where i grew up, most people didn't have one; dogs are mainly used as protectors as opposed to pets. The second reason i noticed these people (which is the main reason for this post) is how their dogs always seem to be in charge of the walks; especially those without a leash on.

If you went walking with a kid, you can always tell the kid exactly where to go and frown when they vie off that chosen path. With dogs, it seems to be a completely different scenario. I'm sure you could train your dog to be obedient and all, but they always seem to follow their nose. And that's when i see the dog owners being really patient. No one's there yelling at the dog to stop sniffing and continue with their walk; instead they wait patiently until the dog is ready to move on.

There's this particular man who walks his dog pretty much everyday just early into the afternoon. I've noticed that his dog always stops to smell an area that has something that wasn't there before. Today in particular, his dog stopped for almost 3 minutes to sniff around the lamp post outside (yes, i was timing it). I sat there, whilst sipping my milk tea, how this tolerance for the dog's need to stop and smell would translate into patience in their daily lives. Maybe they end up being more patient with the people around them? Or rather become more tolerant of people's attitudes and needs that they mightn't understand?

Now, i've never walked a dog in my life so i have no idea what it's like. But i'm sure there are some pet owners reading this who might be able to chip in and say a few words.

Until next time, do have a lovely Monday

My Exams Are Over!!!

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I finished my final paper as an undergraduate student (hopefully!) on Friday evening and it feels like so much weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I can't even begin to imagine how much sleep i've clocked since Friday. All i can say is that i really needed it; my neck still feels a bit cranked from exams but it'll pass. I'm so glad i didn't have to work last week, with all the stress of exams, i don't know how i would have coped.

All i need to do now is sit tight and wait for my exam results to come out in July. But while i wait, i've decided i'm going to apply to some universities in England for a masters program. Aside from that, i'm hoping and praying that i'll be roster-ed into some shifts for this week and also be back to blogging more. 

I hope you're all having a lovely Sunday

Just Do It

For as long as i can remember, procrastination has always been my thing. I always seem to wait till the last minute before i start something. Even on the occasions i try to start early, i always feel crippled and incapable of completing the task if there's no pressure around the corner. I guess the fact that i've always done well under these pressures meant that i didn't put much effort into facing my procrastinating demons.

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But recently, things have changed, albeit at a slow pace. I'm getting much better at doing things earlier instead of waiting till the last minute for that pressure to set in and get me going. I usually start by writing a list of all the things that needs to get done and the deadlines i have for them. In regards to university assessments like reports, i draw up a plan/ draft of how i want to structure my work. With the basic footprint in hand, i simply dive straight in and get on with it.

Previously, i'd take a while to think it through and psycho-analyse it to see if it's possible or not. But i noticed that this habit led me to procrastinate even more. By going ahead without giving it too much thought, it makes me work through it. It was quite difficult at first and some days it still is, but then, i'm a work in progress

I'm Drowning...

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Drowning in my mind's eye

Drowning in my emotions and everything surrounding me

I'm trying so hard to swim but it feels like i'm going against the tide

Everything seems like such a hassle and demands so much energy

It's like everything's slowly been washed away

I want to run away

Far away from it all

Right to the end of the earth with only a book and my glasses for company

Where i can get away from it all and calm my mind and unravel my thoughts

Breathe in some fresh air...

I feel the need to spring clean my life and surroundings

A bid to starting afresh as a means of creating some much needed balance...

Adopt the mantra of less being more

But where's the time for that?

How do i carve out this much needed time when i already feel short of time?

While i try to figure it out, i have to face the reality of today...

...and the weeks ahead...

Textbooks, application forms, presentations and exams

There's No Title...

Hi everyone. How did you spend your Easter break? To those that celebrated Easter, a happy belated Easter from me. Hope you all indulged in some form of chocolate consumption. I didn't; not because i didn't want to but because i'm lactose intolerant and couldn't be bothered looking for brands that sell diary/lactose free chocolate.

Well, here in Australia we had a 5 day long weekend due to Easter and ANZAC day coinciding in the same period. Hence, today is the last day of my 5 day weekend.

I have to say i spent most of the weekend thinking and evaluating myself at the current state and just....well....thinking.....like i tend to do most of the time. I was actually planning to go to church on Sunday, but  something occurred that morning that got me a bit upset; and i have no intentions of talking about it anymore because Sunday is already over and as at Monday morning, i promised myself i'll try my best to let go when people piss me off instead of going to bed with my frustrations. I usually try not to be vocal when i'm upset with someone because i'm blunt on a daily basis and extremely blunt when i'm upset. So it's always better for me to bite my tongue and shut up until i've calmed down a little bit. The funny thing is i don't even show my anger; but thanks to my inabilities of being a good liar, my irritation is generally written all over my face!

Anywhoo, this weekend, i was just thinking what an amazing world it would be if all religions just accepted each other and didn't feel the need to point out that their own way is better than the other. I'm a Christian (or as my Mum likes to call me, a partial Christian because there are certain things i don't accept); i was born into a strictly religious family so i know all i'm meant to know and abide by as a Christian. On Sunday, i chose to listen to/ and read some of the Easter sermons that were preached here in Australia and in England. I have to say i was quite offended by some of them and it almost led to my Mum and I having an argument (she's a Pastor). Luckily for me, i like to be a good child so we agreed to disagree and all is well in our modern-daughter relationship :). Even though we have our disagreements once in a while, i'm so lucky to have a mother who listens to what i have to say even though she doesn't accept and isn't common in the small town i come from.  

The Sunday conversation got me thinking about how my cultural upbringing keeps fighting with me on what i believe in and what i choose to accept. I guess it's one of the downfalls of being an only child; there's so much pressure on you to be everything they would dream of in all their kids. My mum never ceases to complain about how western my thoughts are and how i need to become more Nigerian. Us Nigerians are too judgemental for our own good and we always want to assume that our way is the only right way

Well, i beg to differ. If our way was so perfect, our nation wouldn't be the way it is. The advantage of being educated in different countries is the ability to observe and absorb other cultures. No one is perfect as a human being and there's no one right way is which to find the path to a happy life. I truly hope that when my mum comes over to visit for my graduation, she'll understand why i'm the way i am and also open up her mind to other notions other than what she assumes to be the 'only correct way'.

On Monday morning, i decided to take Catherine R. Staat's advice from this post and slowly incorporate it into my life. The universe was obviously listening to my thoughts because i got this lovely post in my inbox and Shannon posted this on her blog; these made my Monday quite a good beginning to this lovely week. I'm still a bit stressed as per my last post, but things are moving along slowly and i very much appreciate it.

Happy Tuesday everyone

PS: Upon reading this post, i've just realised how much of a boring ramble it has been. Sorry if i've bored your eyes but i just had to :)

Weekend Break?

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Or so i thought! I was really hoping that the weekend would give me a chance to slow down and rest my eyes a bit. But it hasn't been as stress free as i'd hoped, but i'm not complaining either. I've spent pretty much the whole weekend studying for tests i have on Monday & Tuesday, a presentation i have on Monday (which i've gladly finished writing up) and another presentation i have in the upper week. So it's been all textbooks and highlighters for me. The only good thing about having such a stressful time now is that later on in the semester, i'll have less assessments due and more time to study for my finals because i chose to do my presentations earlier.

I guess the other thing that motivates me is the fact that i like reading. Luckily for me, i don't really have any boring textbooks this semester and that's really a good thing. It's so easy to get put off from studying anything just because the textbook not only looks de-motivating but is lacking in colour! That's usually where my highlighter comes in. Ok, so the main purpose of me highlighting is generally so that i can easily browse through the key things in each chapter; but using a fun colour (orange for today) makes it even more appealing.

So, enough blabbering from me. How has your weekend gone so far? I hope you've had more time to relax than i have. I'm truly looking forward to the 7th of April when i finish my 2nd presentation and finally have a proper break, sleep in all day on the Saturday and watch as many movies as i choose to (i also happen to have four tests in that week so a break is well and truly deserved)

Until next time, stay blessed :)

Dreams

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So last night, i had two completely different dreams. The first one was an absolute nightmare that took me a while to wake up from. I was dreaming in my dream people! It reminded me of the scene in Inception where they talked about the 3 levels of dreaming or something along that line. In my dream, i saw someone in my family line that i've been ban from speaking to or having any form of contact with. The minute i saw this person in my dream, i started screaming and it just felt like the entire room was shrinking all around me. I started feeling claustrophobic and having difficulties with breathing; almost as if i was getting choked. Why is it that whenever i have nightmares within a dream i can't scream? Does this happen to anyone else? I had to struggle for a while before i could wake up; and when i did, i had to sit up for a bit and then sleep on the other side because i noticed that whenever i sleep on the same side that i was in when i had a nightmare, the dream continues the minute i fall asleep again. Not cool at all.

My second dream was much more calm and to my taste. I don't know if i've said this before but i'm obsessed with everything French and Italian even though i haven't been to either of those countries. But in my dream, i was talking about Supernatural with a girl in her apartment and one of her flatmates (a guy) came out and joined us in the discussion (i can't even remember the last time i saw Supernatural). Anyway, he was about to go out with some of his friends and he said he'd like to hang out with me sometime if it was ok; and that he makes a good 'French Florentine' and he'd love to make it for me the next time i come to see my friend . Of course i said yes! Other than him being cute, all i needed was some French to make me interested.

On to the question, what on earth is 'French Florentine'? Gosh, my dreams can be so random! 

Hi Lo

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How's everyone doing? Ready for the celebrations yet? Well, Santa gave me an early present as my tooth has finished growing and its no longer sore! I'm looking forward to having a proper meal tonight and tomorrow because i can finally chew!!! I don't think i'm going to be having custard anytime soon because i'm already over it from consuming it so much. I guess by the time 2011 comes in, i'll have my complete set of 32 teeth. Yup, you read that right! The last one started growing this week and i can already see a little bit of it sticking out. I'm so grateful that it doesn't hurt as much as number 31 so i doubt i'll be having any complaints about it.

Due to my survival on liquid food over the last week or so, my fridge only had milk and eggs in it. Just seeing it so empty broke my heart so i went off to Woolies today to stock up on some broccoli, cauliflower and other chewable items that i can cook with all through next week. I've never shopped on Christmas eve before but today was a first for me. The aisles were really maniac with humans and trolleys everywhere you turn. It was almost like a traffic jam in some aisles with lots of people waiting to go through and others waiting to browse. I hope that's not me in a few years time.

My arms had a bit of a workout today because i bought quite a lot of things that were heavy and i had 2 bags to carry. I'm one of those people that only likes going food shopping 1-2 times per week. I can't stand going into Woolies anymore than that in a week because it makes me feel like i'm spending too much money. So i always try to make a food timetable and a list for about a week ahead so that everything i buy revolves around that. It also means that all the fresh items i buy like basil, kaffir lime and coriander leaves can be used up in time before they start dying on me.

As for Christmas, mine is going to be a really quiet one because there's nothing i like better than watching movies and drinking wine on Christmas day with just a few people around. What are your plans for Christmas?

I'm Teething :(

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Now i can completely understand why babies cry so much when their teeth are coming out. so, number 31 is currently growing and it is giving me absolute grief. Over the last few days, i’ve been living off custard, Nurofen, water and ‘So Good chocolate bliss soy milk’. I can’t bear to chew anything because it hurts so much. I can’t even shut my mouth properly because my gum is swollen and whenever my upper tooth comes in contact with it, the pain is exacerbated. Not i see why my friend keeps telling me to go have it taken out. The only pain that has come this close is the tummy ache i get during that time of the month. I keep consoling myself by saying there’s light at the end of the tunnel

The upside to all of this? I think i’ve only spent about $20 this week as most of that went towards getting milk, a packet of custard powder and one pack of Nurofen tablets. I guess there’s always a bright side to things non?

For those of you who have your complete set of 32, you need to share with me how you survived the pain because i’m not looking forward to number 32 coming out anytime soon.

Free Templates

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Two posts in a day huh? My bum is almost numb from sitting down for so long. I've been trying to upload a free template from one of those websites that have blogger templates; but i'm having issues with the XML aspect. Being that i'm completely inept when it comes to things like this, i'm still unable to get it working. For some reason, i can't see the code to copy onto my HTML gadget. So, i actually have to upload straight from the folder which is being an absolute bugger at the moment. Here's to hoping that i can get it working at some point.

Healthy Eyes

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Had a trip to Specsavers today to have my eyes checked and i'm glad to say that my eyes are getting better. My astigmatism on my left eye has slowly corrected itself and my right eye which is short sighted is much much better now. Due to the prescription i got today, i actually don't need to get glasses for the mean time until i get my eyes checked again same time next year. But, the doc did say that i should consider using my lenses when i feel the pressure building on my eyes. So, i need to go look for frames at some point in the near future but there's no rush as i won't be needing it at the moment.

How has your Thursday been going? Mine's been pretty simple. Other than my eye appointment, i browsed the mall briefly before heading back home to do some research on possible ways to keep myself entertained over summer without having an impact on my wallet. I'm still enjoying catching up on the blogs i didn't have time to read while i didn't have any internet. I've been reading The Simply Luxurious Life over and over again to absorb some of her amazing posts that i missed. My favourite series for this week from her blog is 'why not...achieve your dreams'. Do head over to her blog and you won't be disappointed

Delish!

So...my return to the WWW has come with a minor glitch. For some unexplainable reason, the net is unbelievably slow. I can't even begin to come up with a sensible excuse for this occurrence. But i won't let that dampen my mood because my first meal for my flatmate's mum has gone off with a bang! Or should i say it went down well.

Anywhoo...halfway through eating, i realised that i didn't take any pictures of the meal. Very silly of me i know. I can't say i used a certain recipe because i'm known for my random acts when it comes to cooking. But for those who are a wee bit interested, i'll make it simple and tell you what i did. I've never made chicken with honey before so i kind of just winged it as i went along; if you happen to know an exact recipe for this let me know.

What i did:

I soaked the chicken in a mixture of water, maggi cube and dark soy sauce. I usually make sure the water covers the chicken because i like my chicken soft. I let it marinate for about an hour and poured out all the liquid from the marinade. I added a few teaspoons of grapeseed oil and honey to the chicken and just mixed it till all the pieces were coated. I grilled the chicken for about 40 minutes (at 160C) and turned it once halfway through

PS: i sprinkled a bit of salt and black pepper on each side while it was facing upwards

Sore Feet and Gum

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Since my last post, i've been constantly on the move looking for things for my new place and trying to find as much 2nd hand items as possible. If anyone tells you moving and furnishing a place from scratch isn't stressful, please send them over to me so i can conduct an interview. Don't get me wrong, it is pretty fun having to choose stuff for a place you're going to live in as opposed to just having to put up with what someone else has chosen. But it is also really stressful. Coupled with the fact that we started doing this pretty much straight after exams, i haven't had much time to rest. My feet are currently killing me and i could do with a really good massage right now. On Tuesday, Cookie was kind enough to come help us out while we moved some of our things to the new place and also while we bought items from Woolies and Reject Shop.

These days, i pretty much fall asleep once i hit the sheets. Tomorrow is going to be another early day for me because i have to dis-member my bed for the removalists to come take it to the new place and then put it all back again. I'm also moving finally tomorrow, which means lots of cleaning and packing tonight. Unfortunately for me, the internet at the new place won't be ready until the middle of next week or Friday by the latest and that sucks because it means that i won't be able to read any of my favourite blogs until then.

As for plans after moving, i honestly don't have any. Moving is expensive business and after everything, i plan on staying indoors as much as possible to minimise any possible expenses as all the places i applied for a job didn't offer me any. I think some time at home would give me a chance to dig in deeper and find a creative and cost-free way to keep myself entertained. What have you all been up to?

The V Pose

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This picture of Anna Paquin and her gorgeous hubby Stephen Moyer absolutely cracks me up because they're mirroring each other's pose on the red carpet. I'm sooo loving the little grey beard he's rocking with that broody look of his.

Today has been a pretty long day for me and i can tell you that my feet are sore from all the walking we did today scouring everywhere for as much bargains as possible. I must say we saved ourselves some major $$ with the second hand items we found today. I can't wait to see how it's all going to come together when the items are delivered next week. We got a dark chocolate couch and bookshelf for the living room; a red rug, red poppy painting and a red floor lamp to contrast with the dark chocolate. The floor is actually wooden and also in a dark shade of brown so there's a bit of a moody look going on there.

When we woke up this morning, we didn't have much of an idea of what colour of couch we planned on getting. But we knew our cut off price and we knew that getting a couch for that price would mean one just big enough to sit 3 people. So you can imagine our excitement when we found a 2nd hand couch almost 1/3 less the price of our original budget and almost twice the size of what we expected. The fact that we found a couch so cheap automatically dictated the colour scheme of the living room as there was no way on earth we were leaving without placing a holding deposit on the couch.

How was your Friday? I need to go have a relaxing shower, massage my feet and watch a movie so i can slowly drift off to sleep. Have a good one guys :)

A Sigh Of Relief

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Phew! Exams are finally over and i must say it is such a relief! I'm so glad that i survived this semester which has been the hardest so far since i've been in Australia. I was so tired after my exams yesterday and when i got home, all i wanted to do was sleep. But i knew that had to take a back seat because the next important thing was to find a place to live as soon as humanly possible. We had 4 different viewing yesterday, of which i attended 2. There was one we were really hoping to get and so we just applied on the spot. We had 2 more viewing today which were very disappointing. In the midst of us grumbling about our disappointment at how the place looked, we got a call saying we've been offered one of the places we viewed yesterday. I cannot begin to tell you how excited i was and still am. This means no more annoying viewings, scanning and photocopying documents, hoping that you can beat someone else to the place. Now it is all about finding as many cheap stuff as possible and this includes a trip to two second hand shops tomorrow to see what they have to offer.

I'm secretly wishing that the other place we really liked calls us tomorrow morning to say we got the place. That would mean that we actually have a choice of two places, but if that doesn't happen, it's ok as the one we've been offered is pretty good.

On another note, we scored a pretty good deal on a christmas tree today. Anyone who knows me in person would tell you that i've been drumming about owning a christmas tree for too long now. Even the boy has gotten sick of hearing it and just told me to get a tree already! Well, today we saw a pretty white christmas tree at Myer but it was really expensive. That was before we found out that there was a much smaller size of the same tree at a more reasonable price. But it doesn't end there, there was a 30% offer off all christmas items if you purchase 3 or more items from the christmas section. Of course, we got ourselves a tree and 2 small bells that are meant to decorate the tree. We plan on sticking these on our door; so anytime someone opens our room door, there would be a little announcement in the form of bells! How childish right? Well, i don't care, i was just really excited. Anyway, the entire haul cost us $69!!!!!

I'll definitely keep you guys updated on all the occurences as we go through moving into the new place. Happy Thursday people :)

Top Of The Morning

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Good morning to all you bloggers out there!!! How are we all doing? I definitely woke up on the right side of my bed today and it is a great feeling. It's week 13 at uni which means final week of classes. Luckily for me, i don't have any assessments due; although a few of my friends still have something to hand in for Friday. I'm glad that the semester is almost over and the Australian heat has started giving me glimpses of what summer has in stock for us. But for today, i'm not doing any studying at all. I'm just going to chillax and draw up a plan for how i want to study over the next 2 weeks as my first exam is on the 6th of November.

Happy Monday everyone :)

Green Thumb?

These days, i've been having a weird interest for luxurious self sufficient living. I know! You usually don't hear those words used together in the same sentence. But i've been wondering if this is actually possible in some sense. For a while i've been dabbling at making a few things from scratch. I've tried making a simple hair moisturiser and a leave-in conditioner; both of which i liked. And since i'm still figuring out what i really want to do with my life - my passion, what drives me, bla bla bla - i've been trying to focus on the few things that catch my attention when they do and giving them an attempt to see if it's an interest i want to pursue in the future.

After my temporary dab in the hair care world, i definitely know that when i have kids, i want to be a complete DIYer! I already know how to braid my own hair even though i'm extremely impatient about it, and i've started learning to care for my hair as well. Thanks to a few great blogs online and my friend putting herself up as my practice head {she hates doing her own hair}, i'm getting good at it. And i know that the more i keep trying, the more skilled i'll become with it and the more confident i'll get. My current interests are in soap making! With exams just around the corner, i have no idea if or when i'll give this a go. Maybe summer? I need to find a DIY book on it first and see if it's a costly experiment or not

Happy weekend :)

Hair Story

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Sorry it took me a while, but i’ve finally had the chance to post about my hair issues. I keep going back and forth on what i want to do to my hair for summer. I know getting a hair colour is definitely not an option because i’m trying to reduce the amount of chemical processes i put my hair through. My hair is currently chemically straightened and i think that’s already enough chemicals for now. Especially with the fact that i keep hearing horror stories of how people have had their scalps burnt due to improper application and skin sensitivity/ irritation.

I know i’m a bit of a hair dye addict so if i want to pursue that venture, i need to consider letting go of chemical hair straighteners. The only problem is that i have a very curly hair that i’m not used to dealing with on my own. I’ve had my hair natural for 3 years and prior to that for 7 years. But during these periods, i’ve always had my hair braided because it’s been difficult for me to handle all the detangling and combing on my own which used to lead to headaches. The longest i’ve had my hair was while it was still natural and it was up to the middle of my back.

I’ve been contemplating either going to a professional to get my hair chemically straightened or giving it up completely and just letting it grow out natural. The problem with the professional side is that these stylists here aren’t necessarily up to par in my books. They don’t meet the standard that i’m used to while i lived in England. I actually tried going natural last year and i survived 9 months before i gave up and had my hair chemically straightened. This month would make it the 4^th month since i haven’t had my hair straightened; but that’s because i’ve got extensions in which means i don’t have to deal with the two textures on my head.

Extensions is looking like a pretty good option for summer right now. But like everything else, it has an annoying catch. The person who does it really well without giving me a disastrous headache lives all the way in Liverpool! I’m not one for travelling long distances just to sit down and get my hair done. It absolutely irritates me. But for now, i have my upcoming exams to focus on. After that, i’ll worry about my hair; but don’t worry much as i’ll keep you guys updated J