recent happenings

with june over and done with, it's time to update on what has been happening. it was a really busy month full of birthdays, outings, bbqs, dinners and the usual summer time hoopla. started out the month with leesh's birthday celebrations at dozo. we got dressed up and wined and dined the night away. after dinner, everyone kind of split up for a bit before reconvening at revolver. it's fast become one of the foreigner hotspots, although i'm not really sure why. it used to be called the source, but it was bought by a foreigner and he's trying hard to make it profitable by hosting just about every sort of music event possible. the only problem is, it's a small venue and i've never been a fan of doing the same thing each and every weekend. so, we hung out for a couple of beers and called it a night.

the rest of the month is a blur. work, sleep, plans on the weekend. we had a couple of friends leaving at the end of june so it was pretty much time spent with them, enjoying their company and the last time doing things with them. while it's sad to see them leave, it's nice to have the last lasts over with and finally have a weekend of no obligations. i'm spending it crossing some things off the to-do list, mostly on the creative project side of things. 

speaking of to-do list, i've come up with another action plan to keep myself on track both professionally and personally. it may seem a little nerdy, but i have trouble managing my time for things i'd like to do (other than work and sleep) so this always helps if i can do a little bit each day. i've made one in the past and it really helped with some personal goals. this time i've extended it to include some professional goals so fingers crossed that it helps with those in the same way. been following it now for a couple of weeks and so far so good.

i feel i should also comment on the dog since i mentioned her so much a couple of posts back. we've had her surgery and there was a small improvement followed by a week of behavioural backsliding. last weekend, we took her to the doggy daycare and while the facility is impressive, the prices are not. so, we're sort of stuck again as we leave for holidays in three weeks and aren't sure what to do. putting her up somewhere is going to cost an arm and a leg, so this may just force our hand into giving her up. it does feel like a waste after investing so much time and energy these last few months (elisha especially) but i just don't think i can do it anymore. that said, after we went to the daycare facility, she had an awesome week. i think seeing it may have scared her straight.

thinking about the future more and more these days and starting to hatch a scheme for our departure from taiwan. we don't really have a big problem nor are we unhappy, but maybe just feeling a little understimulated or unchallenged? these factors combined with friends leaving always make me reevaluate what i'm doing and plotting the course ahead. when i leave i want a completely different experience so i've been looking into moving to south america or maybe spain. both are solid choices in terms of culture, opportunity and lifestyle so both are strong contenders. i think i am leaning more towards spain (barcelona in particular) because all i seem to hear are positive things. also, i really like the idea of living in a european country with easy access to surrounding countries and a stones' throw from africa. we've started looking into work, downloaded some spanish podcasts and planned our finances accordingly. hmm, i guess we're a little more into than i thought.