New vehicle near my house.

"Honey, I'm home!  Um...I may have knocked the letterbox over."

I took this photo, went to bed, woke up about a day later and there was nothing left on the block of land.  I thought I heard a crashing sort of noise at some point but was too asleep to investigate.  It's bad enough having to deal with the difference from light to dark when I wake up 20 hours later but the disappearance of an entire house?  How could I not be awoken by that?

8 hours sleep

I slept for 8 hours from 1am to 9am, heard my alarm, woke up and got out of bed.  I'd be more than happy to sign autographs if anyone was interested.  My thighs feel like jelly in a bowl of lead but it's a small price to pay for finally getting 8 (and only 8) consecutive hours of sleep... within sleeping hours.  Thank You, Thank You!  *The crowd goes wild.*

Fridge Contents #3 - Code White

Cheese and Butter Diet?

The door looks fuller but that's because I was storing 2 jars of jam in the cupboard when they should have been in the fridge.  There is a jar of curry paste which will come in handy when I buy something to accompany it.

Foods in my fridge that are not spreads/condiments: 

• Grated Cheese

I was going to have a nap then attempt a trip to the supermarket.  I woke up 14 hours later.  I am so bad at napping.

Getting out of the house. It can be done.

31 days of getting out of the house without my driver's licence.

from least to most difficult...

Birthday Celebration & Strategic Planning Meeting - 30mins by taxi 

This was the easiest because I didn't feel like I was inconveniencing anyone and I didn't have to do any prior planning.

2 x evenings of Cabaret Festival with my Dad - lifts from dad Thank You!

A Fete & My Sister's House with my Sister - lifts from sister Thank You!

Saturday Matinee Theatre Performance with my Friend - lift from friend Thank You!

Saturday Night Theatre Performance with my Dad - lift from dad Thank You!

Dinner with Relatives - lifts from auntie Thank You!

My Friend's House with my Friend - lift from friend's partner, trains and walk with friend 

Although this involved more than an hour travelling each way, I coped fine because I was with my friend.  Thank You! & Thank You!

The Supermarket with my Friend - lifts from friend's friend Thank You!

My Friend's House (1hr4mins by car)

getting there - 4mins walk, 21mins bus, 1min walk during 11min wait, 10mins walk during 16mins wait, 47mins train, 6mins lift from friend's partner (1hr45mins)

This was not too difficult because I spent half a day getting there at my own pace and told myself it was an adventure.

Dinner with Friends (22mins by car)

getting there - 4mins walk, 21mins bus, 1min walk during 5mins wait, 20mins bus, 5mins walk, 2mins wait, 7mins train, 2mins walk (56mins)

This seemed reasonably easy because I had spent several hours on Google Maps planning how to get there and I was excited about seeing my friends.

7 x days of Voluntary Work & A Pre-Employment Course Session (30mins by car)

3mins walk, 14mins bus, 1min walk during 5mins wait, 9mins bus, 5mins wait, 20mins bus, 5mins walk (1hr)

Falling in and out of sleep is mentally and physically painful.  I'm finding it fairly difficult to make two of these trips each day which is why I've only made it 7 times out of a possible 18.  But I did it 7 times so that's something to be proud of.

A Doctor's Appointment (7mins by car)

getting there - 4mins walk, 5mins bus, 18mins walk (27mins)
getting home - 18mins walk, 21mins bus, 3mins walk (42mins)

Dinner with Friends & Theatre Performance Viewing at Cinema

lifts from friend Thank You!

I had been looking forward to this but hadn't figured out how to get there so I thought I'd just stay in bed.  I put a message (sob story) on facebook and half a dozen people offered me a lift.  I was so happy I cried.  

Friday Night Theatre Performance (32mins by car)

getting there - 2mins walk, 9mins train, 1min walk during 10mins wait, 35mins train, 9mins walk (1hr5mins)
getting to friend's house - lift from friend Thank You!

That was an epic Friday because not only did I make it to the theatre but I also performed in the show after two nights absence.  That day I helped celebrate the 16th birthday of the community centre where I volunteer and I participated in a strategic planning meeting including typing up the second half of the strategic plan.

Lunch with a Friend

lifts from friend Thank You!

All I had to do was get to the front door.  I made it easier for myself by cutting out the difficult part - stumbling into the shower.  I was able to change from pyjamas into clothes and stumble out the front door.

 I made it to all these things but unfortunately I didn't make it to all these things.

Product Review #1 - Talking Clock

Wheeee! Time flies.

Sometimes I don't wake up because I don't hear my alarm.  Other times I hear an alarm noise and fall asleep before I realise its significance.  Then there are times when I wake up to my alarm, tell myself no-one cares if I'm alive and fall asleep again. For a long time I've thought that recording a message for my partly conscious self might be an alarm I'd wake up to.

When I saw that you can easily record your own voice on this clock I bought it immediately.  I figured it'd be easier than recording my voice to my computer, burning it onto a CD and putting the CD in my CD Alarm Clock.  I planned to deliver an inspirational speech which was guaranteed to connect deeply with my future self every time I wanted to stop sleeping and leap out of bed.

I set the time and noticed that it was difficult to accurately position the alarm hand at a specific time.  It also ticked loudly.  I can't stand ticking clocks.  I tested the volume and quality of the recording with a test message of something lame like "Good Morning, You should get up because it's fun to be awake!".  I only just managed to fit it in.  That meaningless greeting was almost too much for the little clock because it only records 6 seconds worth.

How was I going to convey the beauty and splendour of emerging into a new day from a peaceful slumber within 6 seconds?  I bet you can't even record a decent "Good Morning Vietnaaaaaaaaaaaam" lasting less than 6 seconds.

The playback was really quiet.  As quiet as the ticking was loud.  That makes no sense.  Neither does a clock that only records for 6 seconds.

I do not recommend this product.

Visualising my Visions

Around the same time as the Tree of Life I also looked at my Visions for the year.  We cut out words and pictures from magazines and created collages.  Visualising my visions was pretty useful but I haven't been doing a great job of actually attending to any of my ideas.

Visions for 2012

It's a bit small to read so here's what it says:

Rise and Shine 
happy, alert, smiling face and clocks to represent regularity of sleep cycle

A Working Eating Plan
3 meals a day, 7 days a week and "me" enjoying cooking

• Planning food
• Buying food
• Preparing food
• Cooking food
• Eating food

Clean Up: Organized Home
clearing old junk out of the house to make it my home, renovating, having shiny tiles?

Friends
finding, keeping

Sweet Dreams: A Peaceful Slumber
having sleep that leaves me refreshed

It was all getting a bit serious so I added the picture and caption in the top right corner.

Meet your perfect match!
"Hello Amanda, my amazing girlfriend.  I'm so glad I met you this year." -Hamish Blake.