Change and Heartache

Ok, so I have some big news.... I'm moving out. Some of you might remember a couple of months ago, I was "umm"ing and "ahh"ing over weather I should move out with Chris or not, and Ann left a comment saying:
"if this question pertains in any way shape or form as to whether or not you live with chris the answer is yes yes you do so hurry up and realise it."
Well, I think I have realized it, and it scares the crap out of me. I am going to move out with Chris J, and Chris K, who I have known ever since I can remember. We have collectively been looking for houses, and this weekend we received news that we have been approved to rent a 4 bedroom house in Mitcham. The house is a brick veneer home, and has a good size back yard (which needs some work). It's only 800meters from the train station, and is close enough to cycle to Eastland.
So all this is good news, right? Hmm.. yes, but I have not been able to pluck up enough courage to tell Mum and Dad that I am moving out. Now that we know about the house, I feel like I have to tell them as soon as I can, so that they have some time to process it before I actually move. So how does one gather up enough courage?
Nicole suggested that maybe she tell them.... I'm not sure Mum and Dad would take to that very well either. Why do I have this fear of telling Mum and Dad? What's the worst thing that could happen? I'm not so sure anymore.

Anyway, moving on to something more exciting and blogworthy, Chris and I packed our first box of stuff for the new house! That's a big deal for me, because I have never moved before. I think it's quite an important symbol of growing up and becoming an adult. I thought it was so funny that the very first box we packed was filled with wine. I didn't realize, but we have built up quite a substantial collection!
I'm sure there will be lots more box packing to come, so I shouldn't get too excited...

I returned to work straight after my time away, so I haven't done much anything else except work a lot. The transmission in my car died (as some of you may have read), so I am catching the train back and fourth to work. It only really poses a problem if I have to travel regularly between sites at work.
Dad has gone ahead and told the mechanic to fix my car, which could cost over $1000. The new automatic transmission costs $600 excluding the labor to get it into the car. Dad also told the mechanic to try and fix the electrics in the car, which could cost a bit as well. I think Dad's reasoning is that if the car at least starts, then even if I do decide to sell it, we can get a decent price for it. (By decent, I mean more than $500.)

There were a couple social events over the last week that I really should write about too... On Thursday night, Mauris, Chris, Linda, Quoc, Scott, Diana, Jenny and I went out for dinner. We ate at a Vietnamese place in Footscray, called Hung Vuong. I had never been to Footscray before, so it was quite an experience!
Mauris and I arrived early and took some time to walk through the fresh food markets. I soon learned that by fresh, they meant either still alive or killed in front of you. There were some crabs that were in polystyrene boxes, still wriggling around rather weakly. A lot of the fish being sold at the markets was kept alive in the tanks, which shocked me a little. I guess I am too used to food from the supermarket, which is well and truly dead before it reaches the shelf.
Once I recovered from our little stroll through the markets, we headed over to "Hung Vuong" to meet the others. It was really great to catch up with all the gang, and if things goto plan, this could turn into a regular event. :) I am really looking forward to keeping in contact with everyone this year, even though we are all working in very different places.
After dinner, Scott and Diana invited Chris and I over to see their new house. It's such a nice place, and I can just imagine how it will look once they finish moving in. Scott insisted that we watch some of his new favorite show, Supernatural. I'm not entirely convinced that it was a good idea.
Supernatural follows the lives of two brothers, as they fight demons, vampires and other such things in search of their father. The father was a spirit slayer, on a quest to find the demon spirit that killed his wife, and has gone "missing in action" so to speak.
We watched the first two episodes in the series, and I was convinced that it was scary. It wasn't helped by the fact that Scott turned off all the lights, and made the sound come through the sound system instead of the TV speakers, making it sound big and huge and scary. I jumped out of my skin several times, and I don't think I will be conned into watching another episode of Supernatural ever again. After the show had finished, and we were about to head home, Chris and Scott tried their best to scare me again, knowing that I was all jumpy from watching the TV show. (And yes, I screamed like a little girl...)
Friday night was Mirriam's birthday party. I forgot to take my good camera, so we will have to put up with photos of the event from my phone. The party was a dinner party at the Village Green, in Mulgrave. It was so nice to see all my old friends from my school days. I have missed everyone, and enjoyed catching up for a chat. As it turns out, not a great deal has changed since I last caught up with everyone. Sarah Green is still hating working at Subway, Fiona is still working at Safeway, Cameron is working at McDonalds still (but has started to not enjoy it as much anymore), and Meagan is managing a different McDonalds store. Debbie's little baby has grown alot since I last saw her, but is still just a little bundle of joy. Mandy has started working at a pasta shop in The Glen, and Rhiannion is working with them too. Rhiannion is starting to go back to study this year, and is working to become a qualified PCA, specialising in elderly care (I think... feel free to correct me). Mirriam is not working for Best and Less anymore, and has taken up work with a temping agency. The agency works with factories, and Mirriam has recently had a bit of work with Gillete in Scoresby, so that's good news.
After dinner, we went for a dance in the sports bar, just for old time's sake, and quickly discovered why we stopped coming to the Village Green on a Friday night. They played the same music that they were playing when I had just turned 18, and there was decidedly ordinary talent in attendance. I still had fun, and loved catching up with everyone from school.
Saturday was a fun day, Chris and I went shopping with Tom at Chadstone. The plan was to find some clothes for Tom, get me some new shoes and get my photos printed at Kmart. Four hours later, we had achieved two out of our three shopping goals, and were all tired out. I left without any new shoes, but we had heaps of fun shopping for Tom's clothes, so I guess two out of three is not too bad.
Saturday night, Chris and I went to dinner with Jess. We met Jess just a couple of weeks ago, when we were on our Nullabor trip. She is just visiting Australia from Sweden, so we thought we should show her a little bit of 'our Melbourne' (being more cultured that Sydney). The restaurant we went to was called Kamel. It is where one of the other girls from the trip is doing some temping work. Keelie was flat out, and didn't have much time to talk to us, but we were able to sample a fair bit of the food. The food was really good, and they had heaps of vegetarian stuff for Jess.
Following dinner, we took Jess for a drive around the Albert park race track and down Chapel St before heading to the Market to have a bit of a dance. Keelie met us at the market, and we had a fun night out, dancing and singing, and just generally having an awesome time.
Sunday morning was Church, followed by lunch because it was the first Sunday of the month. Barbara came along for lunch, which was a nice surprise, and we had a good chat. (I seem to be enjoying catching up with the people I haven't seen in a month.) Barbara also came along with us to church that night, which was the launch of NCYC 09 in our synod. Following the worship, we shared a meal together, which was another sausage sizzle. :)
I got home around 9pm that night, and then showed Mum and Dad my photos from our trip to Perth. It was the first chance I had to show them 300 photos, even though I live with them! I went to bed around 11pm, very tired.