The jacarandas are in bloom

Telecommuting today in order to escape the unpleasant office environment. Some work has actually been done, and as I really do have much to accomplish, more shall be completed before the day is out, but for now I've been snacking on peppery cheese and caffeining my tired self into fuzzy-headed distraction. Last night we finally unpacked everything from the Melbourne trip and cleaned up a little. New treasures have been admired and squirelled away.

Ah Melbourne, what can I say? I've never felt so at home in a strange town before. Nothing like Sydney, people are friendly to strangers and the pace seems a little more relaxed. Hard to tell exactly though as I was in holiday mode. Still, I enjoyed most every minute. The cultural diversity, the food, the cottages and gardens, warm smiles and hugs. More cyber-friends converted to the real world - zenandtheart, gaffman, bovinetango and leggz - and old friends caught up with again (Kelvin, Will, wazza, hypergirlie). Also pleasant to share a new city with dabutton and Ailsa - beautiful friends I never tire of - even if only for a few short hours.

Settling back into Brisbane routine has seemed a little surreal. Somehow wearing nothing but T-shirt and shorts through day and night feels odd and my eyes miss the greenery of the damper climate. Work is still a major destabilising force due to the highly unstructured nature of the unit and I've decided I really do need to get out, so eyes to be kept open for new oportunities. It's time to leave this city - I've been talking about it for long enough - it no longer feels like home. Busy as always, the conference is looming and I have a presentation to prepare over the weekend. Not long now until the release of the post-christmas freneticism. Embarrasing pictures surrended to cyberspace - shhh! Nothing now except to burrow through the next few months and treasure what can be gained. Banish this lingering fatigue - I have no more time for self-destruction. Dead keen to get into the garden - if only my weekends were work free, but the fact they are cluttered with papers and presentations is a direct result of months of disorganisation and lax self-discipline, no point shooting the messenger. Still, things are looking up (Dr. Seuss was right!) :-D