Ahem, is the microphone on.... I have a little something to announce

Readers of this blog may be familiar with my somewhat chequered history with men and relationships. The only consistent thing in all my failed attempts was, as my mother keenly points out, is me. But after three years in therapy, and five years of blogging about it all, things seem to have fallen nicely into place. I met Subtle through this blog - for some reason, perhaps as a result of his own unhappy circumstances at the time - about three years ago he started reading the ravings of this woman. Apparently he found it interesting, and maybe a little escapist from his own trials, to read about those of someone else. No matter what the reason, he read and liked what he read. After some time he began to comment and then after even more time, we met. Engaging and sweet at the start, and a great friend to have on the other end of the inter-webs.

The emails, turned into phone calls and messaging throughout the day. Before I knew it, I found I got to work in the morning just wanting to get online to tell him what was going on. I knew something was afoot when Kate was visiting on her annual Gastro-Porn tour* and I just had to have her meet Subtle. Within weeks of introducing Kate to Subtle, my friendship with him turned to romance - with the aid of some very fine red wine. And in time the romance has turned into something very wonderful.

Very soon we were living together and sharing every day with each other. And now it has changed yet again. I am happy to announce our engagement. You know, for like marriage and stuff. It seems natural in so many ways, but still clearly wows me. The fact that I woke up at sparrow fart this morning considering wedding "things" shows that this whole thing has taken me for a spin. I am sure before long I will be bandying about the terms like "fiance" and so forth with aplomb. But for now, even thinking it gives me a little giggle inside and a huge case of the "Oh My God's!!!!".


*Known to most people as the "Good Food and Wine Show".

Standing in Fiction Stretched High on Bare Feet

Anyone who even remotely knows me, knows that I am rarely without a book to read. Clearly if you have been reading this blog, and have cast your eyes to the right, you would have noticed I list the books that I read over the year. It is indeed an aim to read 50 books in a year, but so far I have fallen short - but I will get there. Further, I will admit to having a few issues with purchasing books in the past. I seem unable to say no to certain things when shopping. Shoes, handbags, DVDs, CDs and, last but certainly not least, books.

In an effort to staunch the constant flow of finances from my wallet, I have been cutting back on my shoe purchases. I have only bought one handbag in the past 6 months. DVD purchases have virtually gone to a standstill, and CDs have slowed significantly, somewhat related to a massive lack of storage. But, until now, books have been my source of solace. Caressing their new pages, hearing the crack of the spine when you open it for the first time, smelling the inky newness from the page. All these things make it hard for me to say no to a book, or ten, when I enter a bookstore. My last trip to the USA found me scrambling in the airport to fit as many books I could into my on-board luggage (it was a combination of a fantastic AU Dollar and the ridiculously cheap prices for paperbacks in the USA that was to blame!).

So it has as a huge surprise to me of late, that I am not aching to spend money on books like I used to. In fact, I was in a multinational bookstore on the weekend, with a collection of books that I was eager to buy, and walked out purchasing none of them. Of course, the piles of books that litter my bedside tables, floor, corridors, double stacked on the bookshelves, etc, do give one a sense of pause when about to buy more. But nay, the main culprit that has halted my incessant book purchasing need is a new discovery I have made. Apparently, there are locations, all around this fine city where they will let you take perfectly good books, and read them for free. FOR FREE! Why I never! I can even put an order in, online, and then go and get the book at a later date. And when I have finished reading it, I can take it back for someone else to enjoy (what ho, is this recycling?) and not have it cluttering up my house. I know, seems to good to be true. But yes, such a thing exists. Apparently I am a bit slow to jump on this latest trend, but look about you and look for these strange places called "Libraries". It may just change your reading, and spending, habits!

Fear and Moving in (not quite) Las Vegas

Excuse my tardiness of late - things are crazy busy at Chez Cath and Subtle. We have decided to move to different premises, and now will be moving within the next two weeks. So it is all crazy packing, and organising, and a bit more packing, and a few phone calls, repeat ad nauseum....

Subtle is accusing me of moving just so we don't have to continue using the cleaner I hired. It isn't that she was bad, so much that I don't think the idea of paying someone to clean is that I still have to come along and fix up the things that they sort of "missed". What makes it worse is that she is a really nice lady. Lucky for me, I just rang the agency and said, "Oh we are moving and we don't quite know what we are going to do at the new place yet [mumble mumble]".

The only good thing about the move (other than being hopefully able to chuck out some stuff that is well overdue), is the opportunity now of buying a new fridge. Yes, I am that sad. But it is shiny, super environmentally friendly and works!

But aside from all that, I have one thought going on in my head these days*. Subtle, god bless him, made a comment the other day about me. He said that I am scary. Although, he did also go on to say that all women, dating men, are scary. It seems that it is the duty of straight men to be scared of their partners. Is this true? Why? Is it fear for a Lorena Bobbit-type revenge if they should do something stupid? Is it based in a man's self-confidence? Or are men only scared of "their" woman if they actually care about them and the future of that relationship? I can tell you that I am sure that Bond was never scared of me, and I doubt that too many other men I have dated had fear constantly coursing through their veins. But is that because they were not in love with me? Anyway, interested on people's thoughts. Don't mind me, I will be off sharpening my knives.




*OK, I always have about a million of thoughts concurrently spinning around, but let us just concentrate on one for now.