bellatif's Blog

I bond with one of my colleagues on a very special way. It all started this afternoon. We were having a business drink with one of our clients. Anyhow, during it my colleague had to go to the bathroom. So as she was away, I stayed behind with the client. Just small talk. After 15 minutes my colleague was still not back. And as the client also had to make a visit to the restroom I decide to do the same. Anyhow, I went to the restroom. As I came in I noticed there was just one toilet. And it was still occupied. Didn't take long before I heard my colleague, asking me if it was me. I answered... and before I could say any more she said: 'there is no toilet paper inhere!'. I must say, if I knew here better, I would have so laughed with that: “Stocked in the toilet”. But yah, I’m still pretty new here and still trying to make some kind of descent impression.

Anyhow I looked around, but didn't see any paper. And as I’m a woman who is fully prepared for any situation, I told her: ‘Luckily I always have paper tissues in my bag’. Sadly, when I opened my bag, I found out that I only had like one tiny paper tissue. And believe me, this time she wouldn't make it with one tissue. I was like:’ Oooooh,…’. Yah, guess I’m not so prepared after all.

The only thing I could do was go out and ask for some toilet paper. Entering the busy restaurant I ‘grab’ the first waiter and told him we had a little situation in the ladies room. After that I went back, telling her they would bring some. Anyhow, after 5 minutes still no toilet paper. And she was getting impatient. Probably very embarrassed. So I went back and heard from the manager they were getting some toilet paper. While I was standing there I noticed that the client was back at our table. Yah, wonder what he was thinking.

Seeing we didn’t had like all the time of the world, I asked the manager if he didn’t had some paper napkins. Luckily they had some. So yah, with some delay me and my colleague got back at the dining table. Afterwards, the manager brought us some free drinks. Probably to make it up or so. It was an interesting day at the office. Maybe a ‘shitty’ day for my colleague, but yah, guess nobody wants to get stuck in a toilet.

If you’re LUCKY you find someone who is interested in your words. Who actually read your blogs. Gio is one of those people. Although we don’t talk often, we do understand each other. We both use words to tell a deeper story. We both look behind the written words. We see the magic of it. I consider Gio as one of my NN friends. Not because his Italian and love soccer, not because his a master in the kitchen, no… not for any of those reasons.

When I read Gio’s blog of 21 december (NN2K7) I was speechless. Not for the things he said about me in that blog. Just speechless because he wanted to give something. Something much better then any gift, his deepest RESPECT to any girl on NN. Making us feel special with his words. That’s why GiofromItaly is my friend (and of so many others).

So you probably wondered how my first day went. Well,it was ok. Busier then i thought it would be. But i survived it. I'm sharing an office with 3 other colleagues (2 guys and 1 girl). So it's pretty crammed over there. I even think they got rid of some exotic plant to fit me in. But i'm not complaining. I actually like it.

And especially these first days it's always good to have someone around to guide me. But anyhow, i'm back. And i love it. I will write more but now i have to run again. So busy again.

Oooh, and i wanted to say to 'Da Toy': "Seems i'm not the only one who moved. Have fun Da Toy and i know its hectic the first days, but everything will saddle down after some time".

It’s Sunday evening, just past eleven now. Bf is watching the end of Mission Impossible. I’m sitting behind the dinning table with my machine. Staring at my screen, looking in the NN room. Sipping on my white wine. I’m so bored now. Even Ethan Hunt can’t entertain me now.

Tomorrow I start to work again. My first day at my new job. Should be an exciting day. But I don’t feel it. Nothing actually, no trill, no tension. Shouldn’t I be exited now? Put my pencils in my leather briefcase? Find the right outfit for tomorrow? This is what I have been waiting for: work. All that free time can be so boring. Even I can’t shop forever. But work is not really on my mind now. I actually feel restless now.

I went to a bbq tonight and everybody was asking me if I was looking forward to it. And having to say so much about it has worn me out. Although I really enjoyed myself, I was glad to be back home tonight. I guess I’m tired. And that’s to be expected.

Saterday night we hooked up with friends. And again it was late. Especially because we had to drive back from Cammeray (over the harbour bridge) and I was behind the wheel Yah,…It was a good night. But not really my kind of night. Certain things – without going into it – did spoil it for me a bit. And we left the party rather quickly after that. Bf even brought the subject up this morning, reassuring me nobody would think bad. Telling myself I was tired, and they would understand.

So this afternoon one of those friends came towards me asking if I enjoyed myself last night. I was actually embarrassed that he even had to ask me that. I assured him I had a blast and that we should do it over again soon. Telling him I was so tired that I just wanted to go home. Telling him I hoped he didn’t take it wrong. And he told me he didn’t. He just wanted to know if me and bf both were ok. I did feel pretty bad after that conversation. Because his such a nice and sweet guy. I felt like such a shit. On our way home I told bf about that conversation. Wondering if I should have come forward with it. To make it more difficult now, I know he knows I knew about it! (lol). Bf had mention it to me before. I just never said something about it. His a good friend and a good person.
Anyhow, bf is going to hang out with him Wednesday night. I was glad thou, because last thing I would want him to think that we are upset.

Yah, it has been a strange weekend. And although I’m not excited, I’m glad to go to work again tomorrow. And now, I’m gonna head to bed. To movie is done, and I need to get some sleep for the big day.

Okay Okay, so I know its been FOREVER since I've blogged. And for those of you who may still read this, yes, I am alive!
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First to all, a HAPPY NEWYEAR. Hope all your wishes can come true.
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This will be the year with lots of changes for me. Beginning with next week: starting at my new job. Pretty exciting and damn time I got something to do. I have found out that I need to be busy. Like yesterday, I stayed in all day, was to lazy to even make dinner. And that's really not me thing, to have a quiet day. So today I decided to get extra busy. First stop was my new office. There were having a big new years drink. And it's always fun to get together with u new colleagues.

I work in a very formal environment. Meaning, men wear suits, and girls don't come in on flip flops. Short, those drinks are not often very exciting. And mostly very formal.

Arriving there I took the elevator to my floor. Thought of hooking up with my colleagues before heading off to the party. Just like the elevator doors open, I see like two guys coming out the doorway. Dressed like they were figuring in one of the Godfather movies. You know, black suits, black tie, white shirts and sunglasses. Finishing with a black hat.

Apparently one department came up with there own theme, and it was 'De Niro' or the Winggles. Yah, don't ask me who the Winggles are. And my floor?? They didn't had a theme. Yah, so need to change that next year.

Anyhow, the new year drink started a bit later. And it felt a bit like high school. Like you have the ICT devision besides the Assurance and Tax. The cool guys besides cooler guys. And me the 'new kid of the block'. Oooh well, didn't take long before I was going from one group to another. And eventually I hooked up with the 'De Niro's'. They are actually an interesting bunch of lads (for legal experts).

As the afternoon went bye the jokes became funnier and the beer started to kick in. Not with me thou, I stayed with some (orange) juices and just 2 beers. Yep, unlike others that drink 12 beers in a row. I'm the sober girl. Hmmmmm.....

As the beer was kicking in the conversations went from work stuff to eventually the Sydney aquarium. And while I was chatting about my last aquarium visit, one of the ‘De Niro's ‘interrupted me. Asking if I had seen the office aquarium. And when he told me the fish were piranha’s... First I was like serious?? Then the oooooh followed... Hearing how they fed them with little meat pieces. Once a week. Oooooh, I was so into this piranha talk. Asking questions like what kind of meat, and who cleans the aquarium. And even silly questions like, would it be safe to put ur arm in, or ... would you end up at the emergency. I honestly must say I was fascinated. And when one of the guys asked me if I wanted to have a peek, I could only say... Yah, finally u asking me.

And when I walked into the office space, seeing this enormous fish tank I was... this is fucking coooool. I so wanted to feed them. Standing there with the hole legal division behind me I started to look in the fish tank. I saw red fishes, small tiny fishes, yellow fishes...Hmmmm...

Still fascinated by the hole fish tank I asked like 'Don't they eat the other fishes??' When no answer followed I was like... hmmmmmm.
I looked around me, and ooooooooh... I started to laugh, together with the guys. At that moment my orange juice started to kick in. Laughing, telling them they are all dicks. Fucking around with me like that. Another guy tried to prolong the joke, by telling me the goldfishes must have eaten the pirana's. But yah, I just couldn't stop laughing anymore. Silly me! Yah, those legal guys are funny ones.

This evening I told bf all about my new years drink. And while he was laughing he was like, ‘u so easy’. And yah, I must admit, they really had my going. I can just imagine what my nickname will be... the fish lady.. or mrs goldfish...or…little piranha…

Monday was my first day back at work. I was in a way glad. Catching up with all my colleagues (who I had to tell much). Glad to be doing something useful again. Last week was pretty boring seeing boyfriend was already back at work. And since Sydney I notice that I have like a big appetite in everything. Chocolate, ice cream, pies, cakes,… basically everything that is SWEET.

Working would be good for me. Putting my mind on something else than lollypops. But of course that is easier said then done. Especially when I have in my office and old fashion candy machine. You know, the once were u put a coin in and after pulling the handle a little candy falls down (a present of one of my clients, who is in the candy business).

Anyhow, yesterday me and my intern were doing some paperwork together. And that kind of work is very exhausted. I rather make some calls and do numbers then trying to find little irregularities in a file. But yah, like someone said to me ‘You are a professional’. So I tried to be focussed on the matter. After a while it was time to have a little break. Just to clear our heads.

And that is for me reason enough to have a candy. So while I asked my intern if he also wanted one, I noticed that my coin cup on my desk was empty. Typical, I’m away for some weeks and my colleagues are robbing the candy machine. Anyhow, while I looked for the key to open the cash box (to get my damn coins back), I noticed that I had two ‘muesli’ bars left. Yah, stashed away between some files. So instead of a candy, I throw him a muesli.

I guess it didn’t take long before we both knew it (probably with the first bite). This was so not yummy. Probably was laying there for ages. Maybe already expired (was to afraid to check). So both chewing good. Both trying to be polite. And I guess my intern is still a bit shy around me, because he just sat there with that face that said it all. But I couldn’t really hold back anymore with my laughter. Just seeing him sit there like a schoolboy. So with my mouth full of muesli I said to him: ‘you know, those are very healthy!’. Finally he loosen up a bit and said: ‘Yah, they definitely taste healthy’.

Back to the papers my boss came in. Maybe checking on us, who knows what he really came doing. After a while my boss said to me: ‘Again no coins?’. And while he was taking out his wallet he said: “You getting rich with u candy business over here T*!”. And on that my intern said to him, well, “better her candies then her healthy snacks.”

It was a fun first day. Glad to be back. And yah, that night I couldn’t really resist. I had a big chocolate, and that was so much better then muesli. OoooOOOOooooOO, yummy.

Saturday afternoon I had to baby-sit. Well, wasn’t really a baby, but the two dogs of Mrs. Tinkerbell. To keep it short, her husband is not feeling good and had to go to the hospital. It are times like this that you have to be there for your neighbours. I just hope he gets better.

Anyhow, Saturday afternoon she dropped of Sissy and Sassy. Sitting there with her two Chihuahua dogs in my couch I was thinking what to do. There is only one thing I like to do when bf is away. Getting dirty… in the kitchen. I have days that I just want to bake cookies, cakes, pies,... And Saturday was such a day.

So while I was making my kitchen dirty (and also myself, flour was flying everywhere) the phone went. A friend had left something behind, so after I looked for it in my study I went back to my kitchen. Trying to create the perfect chocolate/lemon cake (my spontaneous own recipe, don’t really believe in numbers, just mix things I think will taste good. And no, I don’t have weed over here, so no weed cookies nut ball).

After some time I notice that one of the dogs was missing. While I was putting everything in the oven I called her name. But no reaction. So walked to the dinning room, to the living room, back to the kitchen,... Nothing. You must know we live in a flat, so you can’t really get lost. So walking back to the living room I notice I had opened the window. My heart stopped. Now I was in panic. Quickly I walked to the balcony, hoping Sissy hadn’t been there. Such a tiny Chihuahua dog could easily fit between the bars of the balcony. So standing there on the balcony, I quickly looked down. And luckily no death dog on the curb. Such a big relief. I would have felt awful if that would happened. And how would I have explain that to mrs. Tinkerbell. She already has so many worries now.

Although I was relief that the dog was still in my flat and alive, at that moment I was thinking alot. Maybe she is under the bed, or maybe behind the fridge, or ... Where can a little dog hide herself. So I start to look everywhere, calling her name,... And yah, finally I found her. She was in the supply room (don’t know if that is the right name, but the little room with shelves where u store extra food, beer, candies, ironing board,...all the junk u don’t like to put in u kitchen)

I was so relieved, and Sissy seems to be in good company. She had found a box of cereals on one of the lower shelves. And yah, this little doggy was smarter then u would think. I only hope it didn’t cause any troubles afterwards with mrs Tinkerbell, seeing these were like very old cereals. Hmmmm,...eeeeeeuuuuuwwww!!

Who thought looking after a dog was so hard. But I was so glad I had her back. And yah, I will not tell you about how she peed all over my place, but she is adorable.

After that I was just in time to take my cake out of the oven. And it was so yummy. I think I’m still a bit high of yesterday. Hmmm, maybe I did use...

So I’m back home. After 3 weeks back in Paris. Last Saturday we sneaked out of our room. Was hard though, leaving in the early morning. First because I had to get up early, and secondly because I wanted to see and do so many other things. So it was harder then I thought leaving.

Just before we went, I wanted to absorb everything. Looked around the room, outside the window, taking all those details with me. Even on the way to the airport I looked around me, hoping to catch something I didn’t see before. And when we finally checked in I felt like I was leaving a good friend behind.

Although we were there for some weeks, it seems like only a few days. Wanted to do so much, wanted to see so much, and I just didn’t had time enough. I think its normal that times flies when you are having a good time. It comes like your second home. We made some new friends, we had some good drinks,... It feels like I left a good friend behind. But the only thing that i say to myself now: I will be back!!

So yesterday was more a lazy day. After the long flight we were both to tire. In the afternoon some of our friends came. A bit later some other friends dropped in. So yah, seems everyone wanted to bring us a visit. But that was ok. I like that.

Telling everyone what we had done, hearing what they were up too. So yesterday was just chilling out with friends. And today I will unpack, do a bit of cleaning, go to the groceries because I have nothing to eat. Yah, they were all eating like maniacs yesterday. So that’s all for today. Ooh, next week I start to work again. Eeeeuwwww, real life!!

So I did go to the MCA. It was nice. Was an exhibition about the art of aboriginals over the last two decades. I did like it. A great diversity of art. I especially admire the work of Tracy Moffatt. She made an adventure series. Like temporary sixty cartoons. Did remind me of the television show ‘the love boat’, sailing to romantic places and falling in love. But yah, I see strange things in art.

After that back in the hotel, thinking what to do next. Oooh, I was so bored. Nothing really to do. I wanted to start cleaning, but nothing to clean over here.
And even now I’m still a bit bored. I wonder around the hotel, talking with people. So luckily I had that. But yah, nothing really exciting to report so far. Still waiting on boyfriend.

A little holiday update. Saturday night we went out. Big fun, big drinks. The result: me driving back to our hotel. Yah, me behind the wheel. We did make it eventually with a little detour. I call it SIGHTSEEING at NIGHT. You all should try it someday.

Sunday was a very lazy day. We slept until noon. Boyfriend was a mess. And me... yah, I did look better! Even though we did sleep some hours, we were both very tired. So we didn’t do any great things. Laying in bed, tele watching, talk about Saturday night. Just being lazy. But we did go out for dinner that night. I was glad to see a new scenery. After dinner back to the room. Boyfriend watched something on tele, I fell asleep.

And now it’s Monday. I new day. It is just morning and just had a peek at the Herald. An article about how the British people are more worried about cloning mice than man. Hmm, I so need to ask fizzy opinion about that.

Besides reading the newspaper I will figure out what I will do this afternoon. Boyfriend is going to make an offer on the car. So that means I have to spend the hole afternoon by myself. I just hope it doesn’t rain this afternoon (it is so grey now). Would like to go out. Maybe even go to the MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art). Just don’t know yet. Oooh, if someone knows something, let me know how to spend my free time.