i'm bali bound

and have two million things to do today. finish packing, shop, clean house etc etc etc. the list goes on. we are flying out tomorrow morning at 8:30 am which means we have to get to the airport by 7:00 am. ahhhhh this also means that i have to get out of bed around 6:00 am. another ahhhh. lol. we are away for nearly three weeks which of course for me isn't long enough. i know, i know............. pic is tanah lot which is most important sea temple about an hour from kuta which is the main tourist area. it's a very spiritual place and on everyone's must visit list. i am looking forward to that first nasi goreng and bintang. selamat tinggal

a book recommendation

the otori series by lian hearn. i am raving about these books. the first is across the nightingale floor and there are four in the series as well as a prequel. lian hearn also writes as gillian rubenstien. i cannot say enough about this series. it is so beautifully written, it's almost poetic and i just couldn't put them down. it's set in mythical ancient japan and tells the story of takeo a boy who is saved by a warrior after his family is brutally murdered and his village burned and pillaged. i am not usually into this type of book at all. there is love, or rather romance, and a lot of intrigue. trust me i'm very fussy with fiction and hardly read much since i studied years ago so when i find a really good book it's such a bonus. i tend to read mostly non-fiction, biographies etc. i left the prequel till last as it is the story of the warrior who saves and adopts takeo. it's wonderful. i was so sorry to finish book four. fantastic read. the web site is well worth a look too. http://www.lianhearn.com/

i am officially old today

no, it's not my b/day. i'm going to buy a bed jacket. probably crocheted. haha. like most people i read in bed before i go to sleep and it's so bloody cold even with the leky blanket on a bed jacket is in order. of course i could just put a top or a pashmina around my shoulders but i've decided to go the bed jacket. i think my late mil had one. i'm old. having said that i'm taking the g/kids to see ice age 2 or 3 or something like that today. the last movie i saw with them was the bolt. love it. :)

handbags

i bought another handbag today. i know i shouldn't as goodness knows i've got too many already. i should go through them and donate some to the goodwill shop but somehow i never get around to it.
the g/children just went home. we had a casserole for lunch (daughter's fave). we went shopping and my wallet is a lot lighter. they keep me poor. hahahaha. my daughter vacuumed for me. thank you daughter, and, although the floors are cleaner the house is messy. i should be cleaning instead of blogging but there's that excuse again. procrastination is my middle name.
i got a gustuv klimt poster print the other day. it cost a bit more than i would have liked but i put it on layby and now it's on my wall and looks really good. so, i'm glad i got it after all.
we went to pondok bali friday night and had a wonderful meal. i love their food. the chicken is my favourite. crispy, succulent and very spicy. yum.
there you go, the weekend is almost over, back to work tomorrow. it will be monday again before we know it. kids are on holidays so i hope i can spend some time with them.

btw. what's up with blogger lately? every time i use it (almost) it crashes. is anyone else having this problem or maybe it's just me. i'm reinstalled xp again.

a speech from Bill Gates

I Know A Few Twentysomethings Who Should Read This

Part of Bill Gates' speech to school kids entitled 11 Things You Don't Learn In School, where he talked about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world:

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.....

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.