January 2016 – Audpodge and Blither Blather

Adventures in Moving: Ep 2 – Moving Day!

Published on January 30, 2016March 23, 2016 by audrey2 Comments

Holy crap, it’s the end of January. We’re half way through summer, and it’s moving day. And guess who is so excited and anxious that they woke up at 4:30 AM and have been tossing and turning since? Thiiiiiiisssss guy.

We’ve been packing all week, and we’re all about done, except for some can’t be packed til last minute bits and bobs. And yesterday when I was in the PACKING AND CLEANING ZONE, it was the most humid day we’ve had all summer. So hot I had to bring my own personal fan into the kitchen with me, and I got heat rash all over my arms. Like, I took two showers – one when I took a load of clothes to the donate station, and another before bed, not just because I “felt like it” but because I was so sweaty and over heated that I broke out in heat rash. I also got a small sun burn in the shape of a triangle on the back of my neck when we were walking to our new real estate agent’s office. So that was fun.

Last night, we picked up our keys and signed away the next year of our lives. In a couple of hours, a friend of ours will be here to help take the first load or two over, and then the removalists show up to take the rest. On Tuesday the cleaners will be here, and as of Feb 4, we officially don’t live in Balmain anymore.

I’m a bit anxious to leave – mostly because Joel hasn’t seen the new apartment yet and I’m freaking out that he’s going to hate or I won’t love it as much as I did when I first saw it or that we’ll be crowded out or that our washing machine won’t fit or the fridge will be broken or the bathroom won’t have a fan or there will be new, scarier bugs and and and and…

I just pulled out a giant chunk out of my hair.

I’m a bit sad to be leaving this place, as it’s the only home I’ve known in Australia. It’s not a big deal, this is just an apartment, and people move all the time (I’ve moved like 4 times in the last 3 years) so it’s really nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a big deal to me. It’s exciting and sad and ohmygod all rolled up into one.

But I just stepped outside to take a picture of the sunrise and the Giant Balcony Spider is back, so maybe it’s a good time to move after all.

See ya, Balmain! You’ve been good to us.

Uh, What?

Published on January 21, 2016January 21, 2016 by audrey1 Comment

I had one of those fun “stark realization that I’m getting older” moments at work.

Well, I work for a children’s company, so that happens often – but today’s was a bit special.

We released a dress named after “Belle” in Beauty and the Beast. As I was writing copy for it, I had this sudden thought:

The moms who buy this dress probably saw Beauty and the Beast. At the movies. When they were kids. And now they have kids. That are old enough to wear this dress. Based off a character they may have dressed as for Halloween in 1995. And their kids are probably going to be like “who’s Belle?” even though Belle was the first thing I thought of when I saw the dress – before I even knew the name.

Also, 1995 was 21 years ago.

I can say “that was like 20 years ago.” and I’m referring to my time as a tween.

I’m one with the parents now. In fact, all my little punk friends are the parents. We’re the ones in our 30’s making references that teenagers and tweens only kinda get. Kids born in the 1990’s are getting married and having kids and it’s not shocking because they’re actually old enough to have kids.

Feels old, man.

Adventures in Moving: ep 1

Published on January 18, 2016January 18, 2016 by audrey1 Comment

I love moving, I really do. I owe it to moving around a lot as a military brat. I love moving into a new house and unpacking and getting things ready. I also love organising and culling and packing. I don’t particularly care for moving said items once they’re all packed, mostly because I don’t like sweating, (and I’m a terrible packer whose boxes always weigh at least 50 lbs) but the before and after parts are some of my favourite parts. Probably because I’m a closeted control freak and obsessive cleaning and organising is my go-to coping mechanism so hey. I could have worse personality traits.

But speaking of worse personality traits, my nostalgia has been in overtime lately and I’ve been trying to remind myself that I will miss this place once it’s gone. Because the same thing happens every time I move, without fail: I get so excited for the new place and the fresh start that I don’t think about saying goodbye. And being the sap that I am, I’ll start to miss the old place like it was a person I knew and never got to spend enough time with.

So today, we managed to move the moving mess from room to room so Joel could take photos of the property for the rental agency. And in the split moments when there wasn’t bags of donate clothes and piles of shoes or stacks of camera gear and books and packing trash and magazines and fans and de-humidifiers and clothes and old mail and what not – the place looked sparkling. And for a split second – I almost felt like I didn’t want to leave.

With its sweaty kitchen.

And its tiny-mirror-no-fan-and-no-way-to-not-splash-water-everywhere-while-showering-bathroom

And its no air conditioning.

And its one power outlet per room electrical snakes.

And its uncovered-hunstman-and-magpie-haven-balcony.

And its mildew-prone closet.

Despite all its flaws, it’s been a constant for the entire time I’ve known Joel. I met and bonded with him in this living room. We got to know each other through Skypes in this apartment. I wrote letters and sent care packages to this address for almost 2 years. It was our first home. So I’ve been taking the time every day to be happy in the memories I have of this place, to see if I can lessen the severity of when/if I’m hit with a landslide of feels on Jan.30 (spoiler alert: invevitable)

As Joel reads over my shoulder saying, “it’s just a house, people move all time.” And we’re only moving 15 minutes away. But still. I can’t help but feel ~~sorry for Joel’s cold black heart~~ sentimental, like I’m leaving an old friend. I’ll miss our big green trees and seeing fireworks from the balcony. I’ll miss how good the sunsets are and how quiet and slowly the living room fills with daylight. I’ll miss the window in the bathroom and how it’s the perfect ledge for a shower beer. I’ll miss listening to the bats in the tree outside our window. And I’ll miss that coffee shop and the barista who knows every detail about my life and how I take my coffee but whose name I still don’t know (I’m awkward).

But, we’re on to new things. And new trees and new windows and new spiders and new home offices and new day light. And we’ll have fantastic memories of our first little landing pad.

Thanks, #9. You’ve been a good pal.

Adventure!

Published on January 14, 2016January 14, 2016 by audrey1 Comment

Joel and I have been talking about moving out of our apartment since before I even moved in. While I’ve only lived here briefly, he’s been living here since mid-2012. It was time for a change, and time to not be so far away from work. With our lease wrapping up in a few days, we decided to make moving a priority. And then we started looking at properties and soaring rents, so we decided to stay put for a few more months until the perfect place showed up. Which was great for me, because I *just* got my the home office the way I wanted it.

But then, the almost-perfect-incredibly-lovely-safe-close-to-work-open-floor-plan place showed up. And the stay put plan flew out the window.

It’s smaller, but it’s loaded with character and storage space. It doesn’t have a/c, but it’s shaded and not on the top floor (which makes a HUGE difference). There’s an al fresco outdoor entertaining area, a huge private and covered patio, a Juliette balcony in the bedroom, a clothes dryer, and tall ceilings with tall windows and exposed beams. It feels like the top level of an old loft, but it’s not creepy. And it’s in the city, so close to both our jobs. And the second I walked in, I knew I wanted us to live there. But so did the other 8 people telling the agent “wow, I *love* this place, how can I secure it?”

So we scrambled to get the application together (slightly less complicated than my visa application – in the States all they do is run your credit and ask if you have a pit bull) on Saturday, submitted it on Sunday, lost sleep for 2 nights, and then yesterday morning, we got the good news that we won!

It’s so exciting, and an awesome start to the new year. But it’s not without a tinge of “aww, this was where I met Joel, and this was our first home” whingeyness. Also the whole “just got my office done” thing. But mostly the “Awww” stuff.

Now the fun stuff starts: packing, moving, organising pickups and removalists, deep cleaning to get the bond back, and about 1,000 change of address forms. In like 2 weeks.

WOOOOO!

When you’re going through Hell

Published on January 9, 2016January 14, 2016 by audreyLeave a comment

My super extra awesome Christmas holiday is over, and last week I was back at work.

Not gonna lie, it was an awful transition back to work mode. I strapped into the anxiety roller coaster on Sunday morning, and really didn’t get off until Friday. Monday was just the very worst day I’ve had in an extra long time. Absolutely nothing terrible happened, but my mind made me feel like I had just like, single handedly ruined the company. So four days of nausea, tense muscles, rapid thoughts, zero appetite, zero focus, and basically feeling like this:

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It’s just a very busy time at work with about 6 million things happening – and about 6 million other things waiting to happen. And it’s all very exciting stuff, which raises the stakes, which makes me nervous to fuck up, which makes me anxious, which makes me almost useless.

Anxiety is exhausting. It’s physically painful. It’s distracting. And dealing with it on my own sometimes takes it out of me.

It was such a long week. And I think the next three weeks are going to be just as long.

Lord, beer me strength.

a WORK SPACE post

Published on January 2, 2016 by audreyLeave a comment

I love work spaces. It’s a serious business thing for me. Seriously serious.

A) If I’m not happy with my work space, especially how I feel when I’m in it, I’ll get nothing done. It will become my #1 excuse for getting zero shit done. And I’ve always been most productive when I’m really loving my set up.

B) I have basically an unhealthy obsession with office supplies, work spaces, stationery, organising tools, etc. I’ve spent an embarrasingly large amount of time day dreaming, planning, Googling elements of my most perfect workspace. And I love creeping in on other people’s work processes and office spaces. It’s especially cool to me. I am a nerd.

C) I’m super fickle and I can never predict when I’ll change my mind. I can’t even count how many times I’ve rearranged or re-ordered my desk area at home. And at work. And have wanted to do with other people’s work spaces.

I’ve been at a battle with my desk since I was like… 8 and got my first desk. But my latest work space battle has been with my part of Joel’s and my study. I’m pretty sure I only used the study about 20 times in 2015, and that’s being kind. And probably half of those times I was in there, rearranging it to make it more what I want. Even though I ~~took~~ borrowed Joel’s additional monitor so I’d have a dual set up, I spend most of the time working out in the lounge, working from the table or the couch (always in sweat pants, apparently).

This year, I’ve decided to use our study for working, and the lounge for lounging. And that meant making my work place an area that I want to go into. And not just a catch-all for things we haven’t put away yet or boxes from Christmas presents (hooray!) that we haven’t taken down to recycling. This room always ends up on the bottom of our priority list. So I made it a mission to get the study into fighting shape while I was on break from work.

I started with this:

By the end of day 1, I got this far:

And day 3 was all rearranging. Then I scored a $15 dollar shelf and a $10 calendar in Boxing day sales, and a free metal cart with drawers from the recycling area, and the room magically came together.

Day 4 ended with this.

DSCF3294 — Joel isn’t done with his side, so I’ll leave that out for now.

DSCF3306 — When I brought this home, I told Joel I’ve always wanted a cart like this. To which he said “Everything you find on the ground is something you’ve always wanted.” annnnnd? Free is good. Just a few pieces of duct tape to secure it and it was good to go.

DSCF3295 — My nephew drew the dinosaurs for me, and I couldn’t love them more. And Hyperbole and a Half is my spirit animal. The calendar is there to keep me on track /visuals

Screen Shot 2016-01-02 at 7.07.19 PM — I’ve carried these post cards from Ikea around for like, ever. So I’m glad they finally have a new home.

Who knew all it would take is, switching the wall, a calendar, a cheap shelf and a piece of trash to make this a room I waaaaant to work in, that I want to hang out in.

DSCF3301 — And there’s a space for Joel to hang out in when he needs attention and treats. And to practice his centrefold poses.

I love having everything in its own space and at my finger tips, whereas before it was all stored in the closet or in and behind everything else and I’d lose track of it and it’d slip my mind. I’ve been in there almost every day working while I’ve been on break.

It’s fantastic. And I only spent $25.

Here’s to a productive 2016!