Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas!!

Only just here in the Uk but very much so in Oz :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone :)

Sunday, December 23, 2007

What to write....

I'm not really sure what to write at the moment. Obviously we have been back nearly 2 weeks; 2 weeks that have flown far more quickly than the last 12 months. LOF has been ill with Man Flu which has prevented us from visiting many people and has ensured that I have made many Christmas shopping trips - SOLO. IN fact, I am convinced that the "flu" began with the shopping trip in B'ham and ended when I announced all the shopping was complete. LOL No... to be honest he has actually been ill and didn't even get out of bed for 2 days. I knew he was better when today we engaged in a sword fight (Well I say swords but actually they were the inside rolls of some wrapping paper) and I was gutted to discover that I had the weaker weapon when mine broke in 2 in about 5 secs!

LOF has been better at logging onto WOW than me as he has been around in the morning with nothing to entertain him whilst I get busy at the shops or with chores of one description or another. So, I apologise to those who might be wondering what happened to any of an array of characters beginning with "sel.." lol ;) I will be on soon and hopefully you'll be on too!! :) I just need to get Christmas over and done with.

In a moment of some inexplicable madness I volunteered to cook Christmas Dinner. As we speak, in preparation for the mad day, a Veggie Christmas Roast is in the oven the smell of which is making me very hungry (and unfortunately it's not dinner time!). I've got all of the ingredients including fresh herbs (two of which will be harvested from a plant on Christmas Day much to mother's shock). Dad was disappointed that he didn't get his Honey roasted M+S parsnips but I have explained that I will make them from fresh for him and I believe he is now pacified! lol In truth I love cooking and I haven't cooked a meal in weeks now what with us always being one place or another or stuck in the air being fed out of small plastic containers. So it will be lovely to cook for 6 on Tuesday.

I am sure that some of you are curious as to whether I have had any sudden urges to book myself (along with LOF) on a return flight to Adelaide. I have to admit that I am missing it a little now. The icy weather is not the problem though. In fact I am quite enjoying feeling chilly and think the icy mornings and fresh days are very festive indeed. I am sure that I wouldn't feel anything near as geared up for Christmas had we still been in OZ. Instead it's the lifestyle that I am missing. I am enjoying having all of my friends in close proximity and am getting used to calling them and meeting up for drinks, dinner, cinemas etc. (Believe me it is strange that I can do that!) I am a little worried about work though as I have spent the last year evaluating a great many things and I know that, before I left, work really had taken over. I love my job but I will be really angry with myself if all I have in my life is school and the occasional trip to borders. As usual that sounds a little dramatic and I don't mean any disrespect to all of my wonderful friends. I just know that all I ever talked about was school and watching my sister, who is also a teacher, terrifies me. She even puts being at school or marking above sorting out the damp in her house!!! Apparently she just doesn't have time. I don't think I was ever quite that bad but I am aware that in Adelaide, for the past 6 months or so I was never stressed out or panicky and on several occasions over the last week and a half some strange and unwelcome negative gut feelings have begun to emerge. Having said that, I have moved from another country again and I have to get used to it ! A few wobbles are, I am sure, to be expected It took me 6 months not to want to get a flight home the other end and I am aware that I have to give it a good go! I am sure that we won't be returning to Oz in the next few years but I do have a feeling that we'll find our way back again. Perhaps with a couple of children in tow. We'll have to see! I have realised that nothing is forever ( Well apart from LOF and Moch! :) and that it's OK to bugger off for a few years and see what happens. Nothing really changes in the UK and everyone is very happy to see you when you get back ;) lol!

I just have to convince some special people to come with me next time so I have someone to have BBQs with on the beach and I don't feel so lonely. We'll see :)

My goodness for a post in which I didn't know what to write I seem to have written a small novella!! lol It's always the way.

In case I don't get chance to see you all before Christmas (Fryer Rd gang I do have cards and I will drop them around to you I promise) make sure you have a good one. Relax and remember what's important. Each other.

(God now I am in danger of sounding like Jerry Springer!! )

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

"He's Bum Man"

On my second visit this week to my workplace i heard this immortal phrase and knew instantly that I was back on familiar ground. I haven't heard that phrase for a long time. For those of you who don't speak the native teenage tongue.

"He's bum" means that some guys she fancies is good looking.

LMAO

Next time you find yourself looking in the mirror after hours of preparation to look good; perhaps for your xmas do, you can now look at yourself confidently and say. "Iam 100% BUM"

Sunday, December 16, 2007

The Wagstaffs



Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Wagstaff who treated us to a fabulous celebration yesterday at Plas Talgarth, Wales. It was a great day and everyone had such a fabulous time with a marvellous and lovely couple :)

The priest was great and coped very well with the late arrival of the bride (45 mins!!!) lol. He made us all laugh and had a tremendous singing voice to boot. As you would expect it was a very musical affair with string quartets, singers and even a Caleigh band. My most favourite instrument was the bells that the bride and groom were invited to ring at the end of the isle to signify their union. Sarah has a great booming bell and Adi? Well a little "ting" was all he could muster with his higher one! ;) Bless

We met some fab people last night. Adi and Sarah's mates were great! Big it up to Gaz and Chris as we spent a lot of time chatting to them along with Ang and her other half :) It was great for LOF to see everyone and wonderful to watch to of our mates getting married on such a happy, chilled out and fun day. Congratulations guys! You are going to be soooo happy together ! :)

xxx

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Bangkok


The stop over was an excellent idea. It always makes the enormous flight from one hemisphere to another go so much smoother if you get the opportunity to stop and rest along the way. Obviously you also get the opportunity to explore somewhere interesting and for me this was my introduction to Asia.

Bangkok is a very busy, husseling, busseling city with a huge population who live in what seems to be relative poverty. It felt very strange to go on the river barge cruise to see where the locals of the city lived to be told that the metal shaks on the water were owned by the educated middle classes.


Shopping is obviously one of the things that Bangkok is most famous for and the boys made for the tailors straight away. We all ended up having something made and it was good fun to choose the fabrics and be measured for suits, tuxes, dresses and shirts.
LOF walked away with 2 suits and four shirts, LOM with a suit, a tux and 4 shirts, Span a beautiful dress and a lovely Cashmere coat and I came away a pretty blouse Conscious of the price of an impending wedding dress I tried to keep my share of the cost down. Having said that I have been assured that the £2000 dress that I really like (I haven't tried it on yet - it's too expensive!!) can be made for £200 by Harry and the gang at Thai Square so that's exciting and will lead to a very interesting trip to a bridal shop :)

The hotel we stayed in was absolutely stunning. It was a resort and spa and of course we had to have a Thai massage. When you realise that the woman is holding you feet up in the air and then you feel pressure from 2 more limbs it is amusing to discover that you are in fact being walked upon. A Thai massage HURTS but it's all worth it. I know that LOM may feel differently having walked away with some rather large red marks on his back and having experience more pain than one man can muster. Both Span and I enjoyed our Thai experience very much and were amused at LOF who took the easy option of a Swedish massage.

We also enjoyed a tour around the Grand Palace and Temple (where the Jade Buddha lives. He's tiny (30cm!))Everything really is paved with gold! Amazing. There were also some brilliant tapestry style paintings. A story in art of a giant monkey who helps battle the underground demons to rescue the first king's queen. Anyone in the painting who is wearing gold armour is actually painted in 18 carat gold!! Opulence at it's best - whilst the locals live in shacks along the river. :S

Needless to say that Bangkok was a lovely stop over and although it's a little smoggy and very humid it was a valuable experience that was well worth adding to the list of things LOF and I have discovered on our year long adventure.


It was strange leaving Adelaide behind. I was expecting some rather huge feelings of regret or excitement and instead I found my self sitting on the beach just outside the caravan site (which is down the rd from here my house once was) writing bye bye Adelaide in the sand as the sun set on our final day in Australia. Both LOF and I were anxious about how the other one was feeling; this was a big move - AGAIN. The prospect of returning to the UK and having the instant gut feeling that we should never have come back was rather daunting. I think the fact that we had friends with us and that we were planning to pop into Bangkok softened the blow and made it feel more like we were simply popping out for a holiday than leaving the sunny shores of Adelaide for what might be forever.

The main priority has been to get the house rented so that we don't need to pay $3000 on a house we are not going to be living in for the next two months. We thought that we had it all sorted but the Italian man who's been living in a very expensive hotel for the last 3 months didn't turn up to the appointment he has made to sign up for the house; not exactly the best way to reassure a landlord that you are a reliable tennant! :) So, instead we are left with the prospect of paying a lot of dollars while we rely on the skills and advertising ower of a real estate agent who has so far failed to produce the goods. Ah well! It'll get sorted when it gets sorted I guess.

The packing up of all our remaining worldly goods was also a little harrowing as we realised that the baggage allowance was a measly 20Kgs! Impossible! We ended up placing some of our lovely possessions in to the cases of Span and LOM. It was a good job they were there!
We had a great time with them over the last week or so too. It was really nice to have my Bessie mate back and we did laugh at the fact that at times we had forgotten that we were no longer speaking on the phone and that instead we were in the same location simultaneously! We knew things were a little crazy when we were in Melbourne and discussing wedding gowns. Span suggested that she should try the dress on that I had in mind and take a picture to email me. I then gently reminded her that we could just fly back to London together and I could try it on whilst she gave me her opinion! lol. It's crazy how quickly you can get used to having to do things via the medium of the Internet. :)

Monday, December 10, 2007

Make like a steam train...

That's what happens when you breathe out there... steam! :)

I'm home... and I've been awake for at least a day (lol) so I won't make this a long one just wanted to make a small nod in the direction of any one who might be reading to let you know that we've landed safely with lots of wonderful stories of Bangkok to share :)

Can't beleive that it is dark at 4:25 OH MY GOD!! How am I going to stay awake??

ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

So it's farewell Adelaide


This is the last post I will be writing from the comfort of the dinning room table in my little house by the sea. :( I'm about to be asked to pack up the router and the telephone and place them in the suitcase which is already 10KGs over the limit (eik!)

It is very sad and more than a little bit stressful to try and fit everything that is left into a suitcase that must not weigh more than 20KG. In fact I've already managed to fail quite miserably on that count ;)

At least I have LOM and SPAN here, and that's cool :) We've had a great few days in Melbourne and LOF and I really enjoyed Hobart - although I was quite upset to discover that the Cadbury's factory isn't open at the weekends and I failed miserably at my mission to visit the factory on the other side of the world. He was, however, more than happy to walk down the main high street and into the annual Beer fest. Mummy Cow.. got you the coolest little gift ;) They have Moo beer!!! LMAO!!! and the beer mat was more than adequate as a tea holder at work - the catchphrase will make you smile :)

So... here I am signing off in lil' 'ol Adelaide... I might be chatting in Bangkok or may be silenced until I arrive in the UK on the 10th... I'll try and keep a travel diary again and I will be taking my laptop with me so fingers crossed. To those of you in Oz, a sad farewell; it's been awesome and we'll miss you and your beautiful country. To those of you in the UK... See you soon you poor buggers! Put the kettle on, find as many jumpers and blankets as you can and make sure the heating's on ;)