Before I begin, I'd like to apologise for the MIA-ness of late. The last couple of weeks have been rather insane and I've struggled to keep my head above water. But in between the downs, there have been ups so I suppose it all really does balance out in the end.

First of all, I got into that car accident. Yes, it was some weeks ago now but it was a shock to me nonetheless. However, I got my baby back the other day and its as good as new.

Secondly, someone very important to me passed away, rather suddenly, in the night. Since then I've had to find my own way of dealing with the grief and the loss. The Boss was very understanding when I asked for some time off which, in retrospect, I desperately needed. I spent my day off meditating at the beach on a quiet afternoon, listening to the waves lap the shore as I thought about life, death, love and all that was in between. I have to admit it was the best thing I've done for myself in a long time and I returned to work the following day, refreshed and recharged, able to keep a straight face and talk fondly of the person who'd left us without breaking down at the very mention of their name.

Since then, work has been incredibly busy with impending trials. But I have managed to keep my weekends sacred and they've been marvelous. Last weekend I went paintballing with The Boyfriend, A2 and his girlfriend. Despite the fact that more than half of our original group did not show up, the four of us had an absolute blast! It was two on two, first guys against girls then couple vs. couple. We exhausted ourselves shooting each other and the bruises are proof of the fun we had.

I also had a girly night out with MG, first catching a hindi movie then hitting one of our favourite clubs. It was something that was long overdue for the both of us and I'd almost forgotten how much fun we used to have partying together :)

This weekend was just as fun though in a more relaxed way. The Boyfriend was down with a 38.5 degree fever this past week so time when I could get off work was spent with him. I spent Friday night at his house, watching movies on his couch and on Saturday he was well enough to get out of the house so we spent the day shopping together and buying each other stuff, ate a huge meal and caught a new movie in the cinema.

So yes, its been busy but I think things are settling down again and regaining their normalcy. Hopefully things will remain nice and quiet for some time yet.

They always say that death trivialises things. I never knew that to be true until now.

The Good: I got into a car accident on Friday and was lucky to walk away with a mild case of whiplash. There was no one else in my car and no one was seriously injured. I was hit from behind and thankfully, not only did the driver of the other car come forward immediately, he has been more than amicable and cooperative about sorting this out. On top of that, the Boyfriend has been in looking after me and driving me around. Even the Boss has been rather kind and told me to take a day or two off to rest.

The Bad: My little car was pretty badly banged up and had to be sent back to the shop.

The Ugly: The damage is in the region of $8000 (!!!!). There was a mountain of paperwork to be done before any repairs are even started. I won't see my car for at least 2 weeks.

My Boss called me into his office just now, saying he wanted to have a chat. Being me, my mind jumped to the worst case scenario: I was in trouble for something I did wrong.

As it turns out, I was called in to chat about how I've found working at The Firm for the past few months. Aside from the endless hours and mountains of paperwork and the agonising stress of course. So I told him the truth: as much as I missed my social life and having enough sleep, I actually quite liked The Firm. My colleagues were good people to work with and coming in to work everyday wasn't a chore because it meant seeing the rest of the minion-types like myself who sit around me and I've come to regard as friends.

I think the Boss was suitably pleased with my answer. Which means I'm probably going to stick around for longer than I thought.

At the team meeting yesterday, the Big Boss had this to say:

"To be a member of this team, there are 3 requirements: You must be able to drink, you must be able to sing karaoke and you must occassionally do a bit of work."

As the bottle of whiskey made its way around the boardroom of people, I wondered just what exactly on my CV had given me away.

Let's be honest, the best thing about brithdays are the presents. I mean, what else is good about realising you're another year older and fatter and not necessarily wiser? And I must admit, this year's birthday present haul has taken the cake:

3 beautiful clutch purses, after I oh-so-casually mentioned I was on the look out for a nice clutch bag. Now I've got one in gold, one in red and one in black. Perfect!

1 CK hold-all bag.

1 iPod Classic from the Boyfriend. My jaw dropped at the sight of it.

1 giftbox set from Crabtree & Evelyn, smelling absolutely divine.

1 gift set of FCUK perfume. Yummy!

2 pairs of earrings, Accesorize and Diva.

2 necklaces, one from Swaroski, one from Diva.

1 pot of MAC cream eyeshadow.

1 jar of MAC nailpolish.

1 tube of Christian Dior Lipgloss.

A poem from my sister :)

Flowers!

Chocolates!!!

Drinks!!!!!

So yes, all in all, a most wonderful birthday with lots of loot :D