I think I mentioned previously, but I am in Brisbane this week at a WH&S course.

A lot of the content is dry but I have still learnt a lot, especially regarding harassment and duty of care. Originally we were meant to have tomorrow morning off and a session in the afternoon and then fly home landing at around 10:30pm but they have shifted the afternoon session to the morning so we can now get the afternoon flight home.

I didn’t realise how homesick I was until I thought about how exciting it will be to be home for dinner tomorrow. Then I started thinking about the homesickness. The kids have been in Melbourne for 10 days and yes, I miss them, and I have missed MIML™, but for the first time I am actually missing my home and my garden and my fish and all that.

I think before I have gone away and liked staying in a nice bed with clean sheets and a clean bathroom. I have gone away to shop and spend and consume and eat and drink and all that. This trip I have managed to do some of these things. But I can see a change in my thinking. I have walked past Krispy Kremes a number of times and not bought a doughnut. I went into Borders and picked up 7 books before putting them back. I then went back and bought 3! Or perhaps 4… I did splash out on skincare and moisturiser at David Jones, but am trying to tell myself it has come out of my footy tipping winnings!

You see I am keeping a budget. Using a nifty app on my iPhone called iXpensit I am tracking where each dollar goes. I am also watching what I eat. Perhaps I have had a little more than I would at home, but I have not gone overboard and tried to fit in all my ‘favourites you can’t get in Cairns.’

I have enjoyed doing my own thing and being my own person, but I have also missed sharing it with MIML™. With me going out last night and getting back late and him going out we didn’t chat yesterday and I missed that.  I missed the sharing of what had happened and the funny things and the mundane and the like.

But it’s all good. Instead of being home later than this tomorrow I will be home for dinner. Not sure what MIML™ is cooking yet

To say I’ve had a fair bit going on would probably be an understatement. Never do anything by halves I suppose! If you want anything done, ask a busy person. Or something!

Twice a year they have their stocktake at work. Basically it tells us how much has been nicked. The figure given to us in training is astronomical, but I take their word it is correct. A manager told me once that if stock is being lifted then it means the buyers have done their job properly as it is desirable. Whatever! I actually enjoy the process of stocktake. I don’t have to talk to anyone, I am methodical and turn into a robot. For the first time in a while I was a scanner and not a coordinator or part of the tech team. It was rather nice!

This scancount (stocktake) they have introduced a new system. It would have been great if it had been fully tested and an eighth of the store was in a dead spot and unable to get scanner reception! I put my foot down to starting at 6.45am like I was asked to and said I would be there by 7.30. I stayed until 7.30 tonight and could have stayed longer, but needed to get the kids. Today was my day off too. Tomorrow is also my day off and I am working 7.30 til 5.30. Wednesday I am meant to work 5 hours but am rostered on for over 7 and there is word I will again work until 5.30. I am making sure I get the hours as time in lieu. Should accumulate almost an extra week off.

This time off will give me a week to focus on my thesis which again is being neglected. I need to and want to finish it, but the emotional exhaustion I have makes it difficult. I really am juggling so many balls and trying to keep them all in the air. It is the thesis that seems to be easy to just put on the back burner but I need to get stuck into it. Perhaps a week fo solid thesis work will help. Perhaps I need to find another week too… Something I am looking into. If anyone has any ideas how I can finish the damn thing, then please let me know!

And in other news I upgraded to the new wordpress and it seems to be working better now than a few days ago. I even worked out that my google analytics code had gone missing. Well I figured 4 days in a row with no visitors was a bit much so investigated! Hope it is back now!

It was my boss’s birthday today. It is actually a little strange thinking she is only 5 months older than me yet has been with the company since she was 17.

For her birthday I told her I would bake a cake. Now I adore cooking. I find it the ultimate form of relaxation, well apart from sitting in front of computer… When I was a vicar’s wife I loved cake stalls. I would bake for days and days and turn up with at least 8 different types of cakes, most of which had been doubled or tripled or more. I don’t bake regularly for my colleagues, but when I do it is appreciated, recipes asked for and ideas given!

I have often thought how wonderful it would be to have a café somewhere and actually bake the cakes to serve with the coffee instead of the mass produced crap that most places provide. Just imagine, decent coffee, homemade goodies, free wifi, varied lunch menu, good service… One day!

Back to the cake! I knew I wanted to bake a chocolate cake, but which one? I figured for a birthday it needed to be a double layer with chocolate icing. So I settled for Nigella’s ‘Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake’ from Feast. It is delectably easy- everything in a food processor (or in my case I just used Priscilla and the whisk attachment) and blend for a few minutes. Icing is a fudge icing with chocolate, butter, golden syrup, sour cream and icing sugar. I never thought I was a cake decorator, but the comments today suggest otherwise. Amazing what some sugar flowers can do!

Of course with this detox, I didn’t eat any, but the comments were pretty good, well comments and oohs and aahs! Plus the office team wanted me to bake something for them as they missed out. Think I might be able to arrange that! Plus the kids have asked for some more baking… Might be a relaxing couple of weekends.