Thursday, December 27, 2007

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! We had a really good one. I must say, I was a bit dubious about spending it with friends, it just seems a bit unusual to do that as I've always been used to spending it with family. Anyway, we got around to Rach and Stu's and they'd made such an effort with everything, they had decorated the garden and had all sorts of nibbles and champagne for us. So we pretty much chilled out the whole day, eating and talking. The lunch was very nice, Rach had cooked a special veggie lasagne for me which was yummy. After lunch, it was present time, Jason got dressed up as Santa (we had a couple of kids there). Actually he was more like bad Santa! It was so funny, he pulled everyone's pressies out and we all had to go up and sit on his knee (I got a special pinch on the bum!) Not sure what the kids thought about it all, they seemed a bit scared at first! He did do such a great job though. After the presents, he sat on the blanket with a beer and a cheesecake..not really good for Santa's image! Got some very funny photos. It all went a bit downhill from there, everyone was well on their way and very happy. We ended up in their lounge dancing to Curly's Ipod, I think Jason and I finally got to bed 5am after listening to my new Kylie CD! Woke up at midday yesterday with a really bad hangover, so yesterday we just went to the cinema and had a nice Thai meal.
This morning I went for a run to try and run off all that alcohol. I've actually been very good this Christmas, I've hardly had any bad stuff, just the odd bite of chocolate, I can't afford to put on any weight. Apart from the alcohol, we've been very healthy.
Today we went to the shops and I got my trainers with money that Jason gave me for Christmas, I was desperate for some new ones. We just got back and we used the rice cooker Jason bought me, I was a bit dubious I must say (would have liked something nice and shiny!) but it's a really good pressie and the rice tasted yummy!
Our Christmas tree
me and my Santa hat (stuck on the washing line)

in Santa's grotto

The gang


Here comes bad Santa!

Check out Santa's flip flops!

Giving out the pressies

Santa and Holly







Very Bad Santa

Things start going downhill


Wednesday, December 19, 2007

So I finally got my assignment finished last week, which was a real relief I tell you. I can't believe that's a year of the course gone already. Still been extremely busy though, even with that out of the way.
I picked up our travel tickets last week, very exciting, it makes it seem all the more real to have them in my hand. The lady who I dealt with was so sweet, she gave me and Jason a little box of chocolates for our honeymoon, I definitely have to buy her something for being so great, the amount of time I changed things, she must have thought I was a nightmare!
I went back for another dress fitting on Monday, it looks great, but they'd taken up the hem too much, so that needs to be sorted and she's taking a bit more in at the back. I go back in a month for the final try on, so hopefully all will be good. I'm actually quite pleased, I had my weigh in at Curves the other week and I'd lost quite a lot. Since I've been going there I've lost 28cm's all over and 3kilos. But I think a lot of that has been from the last few months with all the running and cardio we've been doing.
Work is manic at the moment, we're having to re-do a lot of our documentation, which means a lot of proof reading and dealing with the printers, it's a really long process and there's still a long long way to go. I'm trying to get tidied up for when I go away and Roxanne comes back (she is the person who I took over from) but at the moment, it's not looking likely that I'll have everything sorted...I don't want her to think I'm really unorganised! We are also having loads of people leaving, so that is a headache too, I'll be really glad for a week off next week. Talking of which, I really can't believe it's Christmas day next Tuesday, I haven't bought one Christmas present yet. Luckily I don't have many people here to buy for. We are all having an orphans Christmas around Rach and Stu's, so we are just doing a Secret Santa.
I have another works Christmas party tomorrow night...let's hope it's not a repeat of the last one!!

Friday, December 07, 2007

What a week this has been! Since last Friday, my head has been in a haze! It started off with my work's Christmas party, which was a really good night, but unfortunately, not enough food and too much alcohol has made me forget most of it!! I ended up meeting Jason and his cousin and his cousins mate, who are over from Scotland for some travelling. They decided to play a trick on me and tell me that his cousins mate was his cousin....so there I was saying how lovely it was to meet him and how glad I was that he's coming to our wedding, and it wasn't even him!! They definitely had a laugh at my expense! It was funny though.
The next day I woke up (still a bit drunk), and found that I was missing my phone and my nice new lipstick, not very happy about that, it was that silly little handbag that I took out (that's my excuse anyway). We had to get up and get ready straight away to go to the races for Jason's old works Christmas party. We had a nice table in the restaurant, and a free buffet and drinks, I just had a glass of wine and I was on my way again! We took a bit of time out from the party and found Nicola and Andy who were also there with friends. We had a great laugh, bet a few races, and had some drinks. I also met a girl that goes to our training there...but I didn't recognise her at first cos she looked so glamorous....we're used to seeing each other with red sweaty faces!! After that we went to the Coogee bay hotel to meet my friend from work, Sandra, who's birthday it was. I wasn't sure if I'd see her though as the pub was so big, and I didn't have my phone, but we saw her practically straight away which was lucky. We had a few drinks with then, then I really had to get home, I think I just collapsed into bed at about 9.30pm. Sunday was a real right off, I had a facial, but that was about it for me.
Monday wasn't a good day, I was finishing off my assignment for college, which was due on the Wednesday, and I went to save it and it sent me an error message, so I tried again..but this time all my work disappeared. I tried to find the file, but no luck...all my hard work, gone! I was in a state for a couple of hours after that, absolutely gutted, I'm still feeling it now, I've been in a right bad mood all week. I've got so much on, and I'm so tired and with that to top it off, it just did me in....not good. I just have to face that I have to do it all over again!
Apart from that I'm very excited...only 8 weeks to our impending nuptials..I can't believe how quickly it's coming around! I went to try on my wedding dress which arrived a few weeks ago. Nicola came with me as Sue couldn't make it, so I was happy I had someone there...I've sworn her to secrecy though! I was very pleased with the dress, they just have to take it in and then I pick it up in a couple of weeks. But what that means is that I can't change my weight either way...I'll have to be very careful not to change any of my habits for 8 weeks which'll be very hard.
I'm really looking forward to a holiday too, and of course to seeing my family and friends, and meeting more of Jason's family, it'll be great. I've just been on full throttle for the last year, and the next weeks coming up aren't getting any quieter, I think I deserve a lovely break! Well, onto the weekend again now ;o) I've got a nights reprieve from Christmas parties, so I'm going to get a start on my assignment....again!

Here are some pics from the races...





Wednesday, November 28, 2007

I'd almost forgotten to update my blog again this week!
I had a nice quiet night in on my own on Friday...it was well-needed!
Saturday we were up early for a training session, I got home and got some of my assignment done, then we both had a lovely massage. This woman came over to our flat, and we can claim some back from our health fund, so it's great. Then we went to the supermarket, then I had my haircut, so I got loads done. I must get up early more often!
In the evening we went over to Sue and Grant's for a election party (as you probably know, we had a federal election last weekend). It was nice to catch up with them as it had been a while. We drove home to the results of John Howard conceding the election!
Sunday I went to a Tahitian Noni party! My friend Nicola is starting up a small business and she is doing these parties to sell the products. It's a bit like a tupperware party, but the items being sold are beauty products and the like. It was very informative and I really enjoyed it, we all got to use the products on our faces, so it was like having a mini facial. Then I was home just in time for the Australian idol final!
This week everyone has gone David Beckham mad, it's amazing, he's everywhere and everyone loves him! All the celebs have been out to meet him. His team played Sydney FC at the stadium last night, they sold 83,000 tickets, not bad for a country that isn't really into football. We watched the game on TV, and actually it was a good game, we didn't expect much that's why we didn't try to get tickets, but it was good. Wasn't very friendly, but that's another matter! He played the whole 90 mins too, which noone was expecting...good on him!
Today he was at Myer promoting his new aftershave, we did go down, but the queues were horrendous, and we only had our lunch breaks, so we didn't hang around....shame.
But really exciting stuff, I got a free ticket to see Elton John tonight!! Our marketing dept had some to give away, so Ryan and I got one each...I'm so excited, it should be great!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

It was a nice weekend, although not as quiet as I’d have liked! Friday after work Jason and I met up with Andy, Nicola and Andy’s mate Adrian who he knew from Germany. We started off at the Customs House on Circular Quay where they had put a fake vinyard outside, so it was like a bit of countryside in the city. We tasted a few wines, then had a couple of proper ones after. We then went to the Rocks to have a look at the midnight markets and we were lucky enough to see the fireworks show too. We had a bite to eat and a couple more drinks, then departed for home.
The next day, Jason got up early to do a fitness test with our training group. Unfortunately I couldn’t go as I’d buggered my knee from sprinting on Thursday night, but it was nice cos I got a lie-in! We did a bit of shopping, then Jason took me out for dinner. I really am the luckiest girl, I’d had a bit of a low week, and on Wednesday when I was at college, Jason researched the internet to find a really nice restaurant to take me to. So we went to Newtown, which is somewhere we never really go, and he took me to a Bollywood themed Indian restaurant. It was really cool actually, the guy doing the dancing was really funny, I think Jason was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t any women dancing!
Sunday, we just did some more wedding stuff and got our final immigration stuff ready to send. We’ve just got to wait for Jason’s work application to be acknowledged, then we can send ours in…so could be anytime soon.
That’s about it for now, I have to run to get my assignment finished for college tomorrow!

Monday, November 12, 2007

What a fun weekend. It started off pretty quietly, I had a night in all on my own on Friday, which is quite a rare occurrence. Jason went to a gig so I got out a dvd and had a quiet night in. Saturday it was my friend from work, Ryan's 'fluro' birthday party. It was an early start, I met Linn and Sue at the pub at 12.30, the pub was at Woolloomoolloo and it was very nice, we had a balcony for our group and the sun was out, so it was really lovely. As Ryan is gay, the party was pretty much full of gay men, it was such good fun, we had a ball. Everyone went to a really good effort to dress up in fluro colours, there were some funny sights! I felt my pink fluro hair band didn't really make much of an impact compared to these guys! Everyone was very merry after a few hours...I had everyone drinking Pimms, they all loved it.
We stayed there until about 7ish, then Jason came and picked us up. Just to go back, Ryan went out on Thursday night and met Carson from the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy TV show...he'd got tickets for a posh party where he met him, and they ended up going out partying together afterwards! Anyway, Carson had asked Ryan if he wanted to go to Icebergs (very posh restaurant/bar in Bondi) on Saturday night as it was his birthday too...but Ryan didn't hear from him so he didn't end up going. This is where Linn and I step in! We were determined to see Carson, so we got Jason to take us to Icebergs, just for a look. We had a drink there, then we thought we'd go and have a quick look in the restaurant to see if he was there. We walked through to the end and nothing, but on our way back there were loads of really gorgeous people heading our way (the men were absolutely knee tremblingly handsome!) and then, lo and behold Carson is walking behind them...so me being me went up to him and said 'hello...you snogged my friend Ryan on Thursday night!' (I hope he didn't have a boyfriend in earshot!) and to his credit, he was really polite to us and asked where Ryan was, to which I said 'you should phone him up' anyway, I then touched him a couple of times and babbled some other stuff, then left them to it...how funny. Linn and I collapsed in hysterics in the toilets after...it's a wonder we didn't get thrown out! So it was quite an eventful evening. After that, we went to an italian restaurant and finally had something to eat.
As for yesterday, I didn't do too much in the day, Jason went out after lunch for Rachel's birthday (I hardly saw him at the weekend) and I just chilled out until the afternoon, then I had to get ready for Pam's engagement party. It was a 5.30 start and all the way out west, so I had to leave quite early to get there. It was a very formal occasion, I felt a bit silly getting on the bus with my lovely black dress (and wearing my flip flops for comfort!). I wore a dress that I bought about 3 years ago, but hadn't had the occasion to wear it until now, luckily it's very classical, so hasn't gone out of fashion! I got the bus to Ryan's, then his friend gave us a lift to the place. Unfortunately none of us knew how to get there, and we weren't very organised, so we did get quite lost, then he got pulled over by the police, honestly, I really didn't think we were going to get there. We finally arrived about 6pm, and after nearly walking into an Indian reception (oops) we found the right room. It's a really ethnic area, Luke said that they stopped and asked for directions, but noone could speak English.
The reception hall was huge, and it looked just like a wedding reception, they had 180 guests there (Pam is Italian and her fiancé is Macedonian) so they have the hugest families. The whole thing was very cultural and it was good fun, but it was really OTT, they had speeches, exchanging rings, first dance, video cameras, cake cutting all the usual wedding stuff. Pam really had put everything into this. Her and her fiancé are both only young, just turned 21 so they are both really excited about getting married, but not for a couple more years. There was lots of dancing, and lots of Macedonian music which is very arabic, and starts to do your head in after a while. I really felt like I was on holiday! I love the traditions though, it's a shame that us English/Aussies, really don't have much culture or traditions about us.
So that's about it, had to get the train home which took forever, but finally got to bed about midnight.
Will upload some pics soon...

Friday, November 09, 2007

It's been quite an interesting week so far. I received a letter yesterday from the New Zealand immigration telling me that my application for permanent residency was approved! I'd almost forgotten about it, as it was over a year ago since I applied and since we are now in the process of applying for our Australian residency it's not really relevant anymore. Just shows you how much can change in a year! I'm feeling a bit weird about it though, it seems such a waste to not use it, and after spending all that time...and money! Oh well, I still have to send them a couple of documents and a payment by May next year, so if our Australian residency doesn't get approved, then we can always think about going there then....we'll see.
Apart from that, I got my college assignments back on Wednesday, and I was very pleased with the results...I got 83%...very shocked I can tell you, I didn't expect to do that well. Considering I almost gave up the course because I was struggling to complete them, I'm now very pleased I didn't. I'm still not sure whether to continue the course into next year though as I've decided counselling is not what I want to do...I don't think I'm emotionally stable enough to deal with listening to other people's problems! We had to do a session on Wednesday where we talked with a partner for 15 mins about all the grief we'd had in our lives, and it was really emotional, especially listening to someone else's story. I'm sure you get attuned to it with practice, but I don't think it's something I want to pursue...but who knows!

Monday, November 05, 2007

I think it's 2 weeks since I last updated my blog....oops, I keep forgetting about it and the weeks go by so quickly it's easy to forget.
I've been busy doing the seating plan for the wedding...not an easy task! Also we have ordered our wedding cake, the one that came with our package was a bit bizarre to say the least, so we decided to order a different one. I had a hair trial on Friday night and I was really pleased with it. I wanted to get it done before we go so I could show the hairdresser in Thailand how I wanted it. God knows if it will look the same, I hope so! The hairdresser was really nice...when she found out that I trained as a hairdresser she said she's always looking for assistants if I was interested to do some work for her, so I may have a think about that. She does purely weddings, so it could be interesting. After the hair, Sue and I went to the pub and sunk a bottle of wine (or 2!) and had a good old catch up.
Saturday I went into the city to look for a bag for the wedding, but didn't come up with anything, not really sure what I'm going to do about that. My dress has arrived, I've just booked in my fitting for the end of Nov. I'm madly trying to lose a bit of weight for this...only 24 days to go!
I have finally found my wedding perfume after a long process of every time I went to the shops...spraying 2 different ones on my wrists and then coming home to see if Jason liked any of them! at the weekend, we got it down to a short list of 2, then made the decision yesterday, so that's another thing to cross off my list! Jeez, there are so many perfumes to chose from, it's very hard.
I finally got to see some photos of Hugo on my brothers blog. They have been away for a month in England and I didn't have any updates at all. I can't say he's grown though because the pictures are from the beginning of their holiday, hopefully I'll get to see some more pics again soon.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Another weekend, another update!
I played netball for our works team on Friday, I was just filling in as they didn't have all their regular players. I did enjoy it, but our team are so competitive, it really makes you feel under pressure, I prefer to just have fun while playing! Anyway, we won 10-9 (which was a bit close for comfort for my team) but I got voted the player of the match by the opposition! I thought that was very amusing, funniest think I'd heard in ages! But I'm very pleased and have no qualms about telling everyone! The next day I was so sore, especially as we'd been doing lots of sprints the night before, I was aching all over. Luckily I had a facial booked in in the afternoon, so I had 45 mins of total relaxation which definitely helped.
Saturday night, Jason and I just popped down into Coogee and met a couple of friends. We only stayed a couple of hours as we had another run early Sunday morning.
The run was ok, I must admit I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous ones, there was a 4km run and a 8km run, and the 8k'ers had to run the route twice...I prefer to not know what is coming up, so the 2nd lap was hardest. Plus Maroubra is a little bit hilly, so that made it tougher. It's funny, it was 1km less than the run I did the other week, but I found it so much harder. So yesterday, Jason and I were quite exhausted, we did manage to go down to Coogee though for well deserved ice-cream!
I'm a bit jealous today, Jason had the day off. I just called him and he's been swimming in the pool! Luckily, my boss said that I could take a day off as I had so much on, so I think I'll take off next Monday...I do really need it!

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

We had a pretty busy weekend. It was Andy's 30th birthday on Thursday, so as an old tradition for his birthday, we took him to celebrate at the Oktoberfest at the Lowenbrau in the Rocks. It was a really good night, it was a bit of a dejavu from last year though....again I got dragged up on the stage with some other girls and played Edelweiss on the cow bells...followed by a swift rendition of the chicken song (how very un-German!). Andy came 2nd in the beer drinking competition. Nicola has organised a scrummy cake too....so I think Andy had a very good birthday.
On Friday, our friends Gemma and Garry came over for dinner, I was pretty knackered after Thursday, but it was nice to catch up and have a quiet night in.
Saturday I had to pop out for an appointment in the morning, then Jason and I headed over the bridge to Brookvale where Nicola's cousin was having a bbq for Andy's and her husband kids birthday. The weather had turned really bad, but luckily they had a lot of shelter in the back garden. There were loads of people there, lots of friends of her cousins, and lots of kids too. We had another cake for Andy, I think Nicola had ordered 3 over the 3 days, bless! After we'd eaten and had lots of drinks, we settled down to watch the rugby. And what a result that was....we were all jumping around the lounge celebrating, noone expected Aussie to be knocked out yet, and especially by the 'Poms'! Unfortunately for Jason, later on the All blacks got beaten too, so he was very depressed! I've been rubbing our win in to my Aussie friends (well, they always do it to me) but I shouldn't get too excited, we still have to beat France at the weekend. Trouble is the game is on at 5am I think, and we are doing another run on Sunday, so I may have to give it a miss.
I'm extremely tired at the moment, there has been so much going on for so long and I'm feeling quite overwhelmed. I'm really looking forward to our holiday now, I haven't had any time off since March...only another 116 days to go!!

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

We had a nice long 3 day weekend last week. Friday night we went for dinner with a few friends. Saturday I tried my wedding dress try on, which didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I guess I wasn't really in a 'I look ok mood' I was feeling a little flat, then I worried that I'd chosen the wrong dress and that I looked old...not good really. I guess it didn't help that I'd had my hair done and she'd curled it, but the fringe was still straight, so I couldn't really do much about it....also I was looking tired from the previous night! Anyway, the jewellery I'd chosen suited the dress perfectly, so I should be happy about that! After that, Sue and I spent the rest of the afternoon looking in the shops, I bought some new training gear seeing as I've been spending so much time working out (not that you'd know :-( ) When I got home, it was nice to just chill out and not have to go out anywhere, I needed to catch up with some sleep!
Sunday we got up and went for a run in the morning, then we headed over to Manly with Linn to meet up with Sue, Nicola and Andy. We thought we'd go over to their neck of the woods for a change! There was a jazz fest on, so it was really busy, plus Manly were playing in the rugby league final in the evening, so there was quite a festive atmosphere. We headed to the rooftop bar and had a few drinks there, and then we stopped to listen to some of the music, then it was time for dinner. After dinner we went to the pub to get a spot to watch the game (much to my dislike!) During the first part of the game, I managed to sort all the old receipts out of my purse, but after I did that I was a bit stumped as to what to do! Trouble is when people watch sport, they don't tend to talk much, even Nicola was really into it and by this time Linn and Sue had left, so all I had left to do was to actually watch the game, which I did, and I must say, although I was really adamant not to get into it...I did at the end! Manly ended up losing. Anyway, we left for home soon after that, after a quick stop at the Bavarian bier cafe!
Had a nice lie in on Monday, I love these public holidays! Jason and I cleaned the flat and then we went to the shopping mall to get a few bits. Jason wanted to get some new t-shirts...and I ended up buying 4 new dresses!! That wasn't the idea, but once I got started. I must say I've been really bad with my money lately...what with wedding bills and beauty treatments (for the wedding) and general bills, my poor savings account hasn't had much new green stuff to go into it :-(
Back to work now and it feels like I've had no time off. The weather is pretty hot...today it was 34 degrees (and this is only spring!). We've just got back from training at the park, blimey, it was like being in a sauna, still must have been 30 degrees at 7pm.
Linn and I went to see Hairspray last night, it was sooo funny, we really enjoyed it. John Travolta was so good as the Mum, he had the part down to a tee. Well worth watching, but you have to see it at the cinema so you get the full effects of the music.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

I've been meaning to put this up for a couple of days!
Had a pretty quiet weekend as we were in preparation for our run. Saturday night we just popped out for a couple of hours to meet up with some friends who we hadn't seen for a while.
The run on Sunday was great, I really enjoyed it. The day started off a bit chilly, but as soon as the sun came out and our bodies warmed up it was beautiful. The run was really nice as we saw some great views. It was good to as it wasn't as busy at the last one we did, you got to have a bit of breathing space. I was very happy with my time...I did 9km in 55.23 mins, I must say the last 2km I really put my all into it, I had loads of energy still left and I wanted to complete the race in under 1 hour...so I reached my goal. It's funny, I seem to get competitive towards the end of these events.
Been feeling pretty tired since...we did go to kickboxing on Monday night too...I don't know where we get the energy from. I'm actually trying my dress on again on Saturday and I'm worried that I haven't lost any weight since last time...time will tell!! I would hope so after all this exercise!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

I didn't get a chance to update my blog yet this week. I've always got so much on my plate, it's terrible how quickly the days and weeks go by.
Last Friday night I finally met up with Sue for a couple of drinks, it'd been so long since we saw each other. After an hour or so, I managed to persuade her to come to the football with us...I was meeting Jason, Nicola and Andy at the ground. Was a good night, although I didn't really watch much of the game as I was talking. Sydney FC were playing Wellington, Wellington won. It was very different from the big games I'm used to seeing, the stadium didn't seem packed at all, and the atmosphere wasn't quite there. Soccer, as they call it here, isn't really one of the big sports here. After the game we had a couple more drinks, then headed home.
Saturday we just went down to the beach for a lie in the sun, then we stayed in in the evening. And Sunday we met a couple of friends for lunch which was nice, the weather was beautiful.
This week has been full of training and homework for me. We have the Bridge run tomorrow, it's a 9km run, so I'm not dreading it as much as the one the other month. We start by running over the Harbour bridge, which I'm looking forward to as I've never walked over it (I've walked on it, but not over it, if that makes sense!). Then we go around the botanical gardens, and back to the Opera House, should be a good morning.
Last night we went to see Ratatouille at the cinema, was very funny about a rat that can cook...I love the Pixar animated films.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

I'm sat here, and I should be doing my assignments right now, but I really can't get my motivation going, so I thought I'd do a quick blog.
It was a short week at work last week as we had a public holiday on Friday due to the APEC conference. I actually had an exciting moment on Thursday morning, from my works window I saw George Bush and his 30 or so vehicle motorcade leave the hotel car park, I had a prime view. Not that I could see him..only his car... but at least I saw a bit of the action! Actually we were watching the news over the weekend, and for the last evening of the conference the government put on fireworks on the harbour for all the leaders and their wives....and I have to say I was very disappointed about that, it's pretty disgraceful, what a waste of money, and when I say fireworks, they don't scrimp one bit, it's a full on spectacular show. I could think of many more things that money would have been better used for, but anyway!
So Friday afternoon, Jason and I drove up to the Hunter Valley for the weekend...and I must say it was just what the doctor ordered. We've been saving so hard for so long, we've hardly done anything else for ourselves, so we thought it was about time. We stayed just outside the Valley in a town called Maitland in a lovely 4 star serviced apartment. It was like a ghost town there, we went out on the Friday night with plans for a lovely meal, but we couldn't find hardly anywhere to eat, and the whole place was like a ghost town, we didn't see one person! In the end we found a pub with a bistro, but it was more like an RSL club, not very romantic...and luckily for Jason (not for me) he did get his wish to see the rugby game on the TV (while eating dinner!)
Saturday, our bus for the wine tour was late, eventually, it turned up an hour and a half late. We were a bit annoyed, but didn't want to let it ruin our day. We had a great day, we went to lots of wineries we hadn't been before, a lot of the boutique ones which was great. We didn't really have a proper chocolate or cheese tasting though, but we were going to go back the next day anyway, so that didn't matter. When we got on the bus back to the hotel, we all had a gift pack with 2 bottles of wine each on our seats...the company had given them to us as an apology for being late which was very nice...we added it to our growing collection of wine that we had already bought! Had a snooze on the way back as you know drinking lots of alcohol in the day makes you sleepy. We had a low key evening and just ordered a pizza and watched a dvd.
Sunday we checked out and drove back to do a bit of cheese and chocolate tasting... I didn't feel like any more wine though (well that's until 11am when we go to the Arrowfield Estate!!) We had another great day, after some cheese tasting we went to Palmers Lane where they were having a Spring festival. We stopped off at one winery, (actually it was a shed) but anyway, we had sample of the chardonnay, then were treated to a show of a couple of Latin dancers....then it was our turn to join in, except that I wasn't dancing with Jason, but the guy who owned the winery (shed). They showed us some moves, but at one point it got a bit embarassing cos I had to move up and down him quite closely.. bless him, he asked if my boyfriend minded!! After that, he said we could have a complimentary ride on his bus, you should have seen it, it was an archaic double decker bus. Luckily we were only going up the road to a couple more vinyards, so we thought we would go. On the bus were some kids that were playing at being the bus conductor, one of them must be a local cos he was very knowledgable about the area, we were quite amused. At one of the vinyards we entered the race of the rubber ducks, but unfortunately did not win anything. So we did get to taste some more cheese and had some chocolate dipped marshmallows which were yummy. We've brought back heaps of wine and some cheese too, but we have to be good now as we have our Bridge run next weekend, 9km, and I've hardly done any training..oops!
here are some pics from the weekend
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having a dance
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the little kids on the bus
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and the big kid..
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the duck race
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musicians at one of the vinyards
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and the happy ending
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yummy
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Bush arrives....
It was very exciting coming to work today, George Bush arrived in Sydney last night and the Harbour part of the city is in total lockdown. I must admit it's been a right pain in the bum since Monday, there are fences and road closures everywhere and getting the bus to work has been awful. Today it's even worse. there are police absolutely everywhere and 3 or 4 helicopters flying over the building... you see Bush is staying in the building over the road from where I work, just across a little road. We can see everything from our window, there are snipers on the hotel roof (better be a bit careful with that one) and our building had armed guards all around it this morning, it's very surreal being within a few metres of one of the worlds most powerful men, I've never seen anything like it. Apart from a couple of fighter jets and helicopters hovering overhead, nothing really eventful happened during the day....we missed it when he drove to meet John Howard.
When I came out from work there were even more police and a huge police truck and loads of motorbikes parked out the front. I think another leader arrived too as they blocked off another road when I was walking to the bus and there was a motorcade driving past. Tomorrow will be the most interesting day, Bush is apparently driving through the city in the morning rush hour,..lets see how that goes!
I spoke to my brother last night and saw little Hugo on the webcam...well I say little, he's grown so much, sometimes you dont' realise when you're just looking at pictures. He's still as cute as a button! Here are some pics
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my favourite
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Sunday, September 02, 2007

It's been an eventful week at work, we had a safe shelter alarm the other day, which meant we all had to move to the 'safe' side of the building. This happened because we are located next door to the hotel where a lot of the world leaders are staying next week. We also had an F16 jet going past our window the other day, it was quite surreal! I'm wondering what next week is going to be like. Better be prepared for lots of security searches.
I went out with my work colleagues on Friday night, one of the Systems guys was leaving, so they put on drinks and food in our coffee lounge. We had a few there, then it was off to the Opera bar and then the Rocks for a couple. By the time I got home it was 1.30...don't know where the time went! I didn't get up til late yesterday, we just cleaned the flat (well Jason did most of it as I was a bit worse for wear) and then we went to see the Simpsons movie. In the evening Nicola and Andy came over for drinks and nibbles. It's so great to be able to hang around with those guys again, I've especially missed Andy since I left Munich, it's weird to be living in the same city with them again.
They left quite early this morning as Andy was having some surf ski lessons or something. So Jason and I just went to pick up some shoes for him for the wedding. I think his outfit is all sorted now.
We decided to get out of the city next weekend, we have a bank holiday on Friday because of the APEC, so we've booked in at Hunter Valley for a couple of nights. I can't wait, I love going there. We got a really good deal which includes a full days wine tour, starting at 9am at the Champagne winery...then following off at the chocolate shop where they sell the best chocolate dipped strawberries and marshmallows...hows that for breakfast!!

Monday, August 27, 2007

I'm suffering a bit today, Jason and I went to a party at a friends up on the northern beaches on Saturday night. It was good fun, it was a bit different as they were people we don't normally hang out with. It turned into a big night and I drunk a lot of wine and we didn't get to bed til 4am, the latest I've been out in a long time. Luckily we could stay over so we got a bit of a lie-in. The view from their balcony was amazing, you could see the beach and the skies were really blue, it was just like being on holidays. I had a bit of a flashback in the morning though, I remembered that we'd been singing karaoke on the playstation...yikes! So needless to say, yesterday was a bit of a right-off. I think the hangover affected us more cos we aren't used to drinking a lot, my boss said I told you not drinking isn't good for you!
Apart from that, been doing weddingy type things. I found out that to get my hair and make-up done at the hotel for our wedding would cost $500, and that doesn't even include a trial! so when I had my make up done the other week, she suggested that I get make-up lessons so I can learn how to do it properly myself, so I had my first one on Saturday. It was quite good really, she did a bit on one side of my face, then I had to copy on the other side. I learnt lots of really neat tricks, and she said I taught her a couple of things too....she even said she like the way I did my eyes better than hers! I learnt how to make my lips look a bit pouty too which I'm really chuffed about...I bought that piece of make-up straight away! I must admit, I would like to be pampered on my wedding day, but I'm not paying $500, plus it's not a good idea to have it done without a trial. Now I just need to find someone to do my hair!
Things are hotting up here for the APEC conferences next week, it's going to be a total nightmare...I work right where the conferences are taking place, so we are going to be under extremely tight security. We have been seeing police helicoptors outside our windows flying in between the buildings. Luckily they have declared the Friday a public holiday, but we still have to attempt to get to work for the rest of the week. Apparently it's costing us taxpayers over $200 million...ridiculous! they are taking some of the animals from Taronga zoo to another island so the wives of the politicians can see them without all the crowds!
I think I forgot to say also that my work has extended my contract until the end of Jan next year, which is perfect as I can work right up until we leave for Thailand, so I don't have the extra stress of looking for work before. Mind you, I'll have to search when I get back, but I'm not going to worry about that until it happens. Roxanne may not even be back by then, so we'll see. She decided she wanted to spend more time at home with her daughter.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Jason's parents went home today, I can't believe the 10 days went so quickly. We had a really nice time with them, it was nice to have them around. They pretty much looked after themselves during the week and we just cooked some nice dinners in the evening. They brought us a great toasted sandwich maker for letting them stay which I can't wait to use!
On Friday night, Jason and I met up with my really good friends Andy and Nicola, who I know from Munich. They finally arrived in Sydney in the week. It was really great to catch up with them as it'd been such a long time, they were telling us all their travelling adventures, was a lovely evening. When they get themselves sorted with work etc, we'll be able to catch up a bit more. Hopefully we'll do the Oktoberfest at the Lowenbrau like last year.
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On Saturday Jason's Mum just wanted to have a look in the shopping mall, so we had a quick look around there. In the evening we went for a nice Mexican dinner and a few drinks.
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Yesterday the weather was pretty appalling, we had planned to go to the Blue Mountains, but of course because it was raining we had to give it a miss. We went to Paddys markets first, then we saw the Flying Scotsman at the cinema, which was a really good film about a Scottish cyclist.
I made a horrible discovery over this last week, I noticed there were a couple of maggoty type bugs on our kitchen ceiling...naturally I freaked out and Jason came and got them. Anyway, the next day there were a couple more appeared, so I phoned up the rental agent (who said it wasn't an emergency) so again, Jason moved them into a plastic pot so when the pest controller hopefully came we could show him. Anyway, half an hour later there were some more. At this point Jason's mum and dad said they may be weevils (what in the hell are weevils was my response!) apparently they grow in pasta and rice and flour. So we started searching through all the packets of stuff, and sure enough in the packet of rice there were all these disgusting creatures (Jason didn't show it to me though because I would have gone mental) and they had spread to the other packets of stuff so we ended up throwing practically everything out. I can't believe these things exist, I"ve never heard of them and I told Mum off for never telling me about them! I didn't realise you have to keep an eye on these foods and make sure they are sealed away and to use them before they get too old. They turn into moths too, now I know why we were having a problem with the moths!! So now, I'm a bit stuck cos I can't face eating anything like pasta or rice (I hope I haven't put anyone off) what the heck am I going to eat now!! the thought of it makes me feel ill!

Anyway, I'd better sign off on a nice note. Here is a few pictures of my speedily growing nephew Hugo with the teddy bear I sent over, he's grabbing stuff and as you can see picking things up now...he's so cute.
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Monday, August 13, 2007

What a great day yesterday was! I'm pleased to say I completed the City to Surf 14km run in just under 2 hours. I ran most of the way (just walking up the really steep hill) I really didn't think I'd be able to do it...just shows you what you can do if you put your mind to it. I started off the first half with Jason's Mum, Claire, when we got to the top of Heartbreak hill (the really steep hill) we couldn't believe we'd already ran 7km. So after that my competitive nature kicked in and I wanted to try and get a good time, so I ran off ahead of her. After the hill it was pretty much downhill which was good, I was flying past lots of people, I had so much motivation in me, god knows where it came from, but I wasn't puffed out one bit during the run, I hate to say it, but it was almost easy...nothing like I expected. I think it helps when there are loads of people running with you, if I was on my own, I'm sure I wouldn't have done half as well. There was 65,000 people competing on the day, so you were never alone!
When we first got to the city at 7.30am it was pretty quiet, we met up with my work colleagues to have a team picture taken, then after a half hour queue for the loo, we got ready for the start. You can't run for ages at the beginning though cos there are so many people walking and with pushchairs, it's a bit of an obstacle course, in fact for most of the race it's like that! We left approx 9.15am and it was getting quite warm even then..I think the temperature was 22 degrees yesterday. Luckily there were lots of drinks stops, and some people in their gardens with hoses spraying water over everyone which was a nice cool down. There were some people dressed up in outrageous costumes, there were a couple of Borat's in that fetching green swimming costume...I bet they got a lot of chafing!! I was quite emotional when I crossed the finish line, it was such a big achievement for me, I'm not a runner and I never dreamed I could run it all, trouble is there was noone there to give me a congratulatory hug at the end as Jason had gone on ahead :-( We will find out our exact times tomorrow in the newspaper, Jason did approx 1hr 45mins. So yesterday evening to celebrate, we went for a few drinks down the pub, I had my first glass of wine since 5 weeks and a huge pizza which was very nice! Feeling a bit exhausted today and I'm aching more as the day goes on!
So that's about it really. Jason's Mum and Dad arrived with us on Friday evening so we've been entertaining them since. It's been really nice to see them again.
Here are some pics from yesterday
Jason, me, Bruce and Claire
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Me with my work colleagues
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start of the race
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Jase and me with our medals
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Bondi
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Sunday, August 05, 2007

It's been another busy weekend. Friday after work we had a mid-year soiree, I didn't stay long though because I wanted to get back home pretty early as I still had my college assignment to complete...I've really been putting it off. It was supposed to be in a couple of weeks ago, but I got an extension until this Wednesday. Anyway, of course I didn't get it done on Friday, by the time I got home I was tired and it was gone 9pm. So I ended up getting up early on Saturday morning to get a good start on it, which I did, it was a lot of work though. Had to leave at 11 for our appointment with the accountant...had some good news there, I got some tax back which will go nicely towards our wedding. Then it was back home again for lunch, then Di picked me up, she wanted me to help her out with her portfolio (she's in advertising) I had to have my photos taken with one side of my hair straight and one side curly. It was for a hot chocolate advert, so the idea was that I stopped halfway through doing my hair because I couldn't wait for my hot chocolate. I felt like a right berk, I had to act like I was really enjoying the drink and say mmmm loads and smile while I was having my pics taken by her photographer mates, very embarrassing! Anyway, it took about 2 hours to get done, but we got there in the end. Then I had to rush back and get the groceries, then I got back and nearly finished off my assignment. We ended up staying in again last night.
Today we were up early again and we went for a run at Centennial Park. I was so pleased with myself, I ran 7km, which is the most I've ever done, it took me 45 minutes. I have to say I was absolutely done in after, I don't think I can run the whole 14km, and the run is next Sunday, so it doesn't give me much time, I'll just see what I can do.
So after recovering from that, I met up with Sue at the mall. We wanted to have a last look at some more bridesmaid dresses, but because of the season, there aren't really any summery dresses about yet. I had a make up trial so I could get some ideas for the wedding. It was really good and very imformative, I learnt some new tricks. I also spent a fair bit of money! It was funny because she did one eye one colour, and the other eye another colour...it reminded me of yesterday with two different hairstyles! It was good that she did that though so I could have two different looks to decide from. I think I've decided on the colours I like now. That took about 2 hours, so we both went home after that. Jason went to a concert tonight, so I've just been watching my Sunday night TV, my favourite night, but all the final parts have been on, so I don't know what I'm going to do next Sunday! Right, I'm off to bed now.

Monday, July 30, 2007

The past week has been quite busy, what with all the exercising I've been doing. I started full on back with my training last Monday, had a really good week of exercise. I did a catch up class with the outdoors training I do last Thursday, it was a cardio class and it was a killer. Trust me to pick that night to start it! We had to do hill runs, which didn't mean just going up the hill once or twice..it meant going up and down god knows how many times. I really did think I was going to be sick! Then after what 30 mins or more of that, we went back to the park for some sprinting. I do really enjoy the classes even though they are really tough, it's good to have someone pushing you all the time. Actually, we've just got back from kickboxing. I got paired up with this lovely Irish girl, at the end we had to lie down facing each other and lift up onto our feet and elbows, then we had to high 5 each other...every time we high 5'd we cracked up laughing, and then I smacked her glasses off by accident which made us laugh even more, I don't know where we got the energy from to stop collapsing!
The weekend was quite nice, quiet again. We met up with Linn and Martin and Sean on Friday night, we hadn't seen them for a while, so was nice to catch up. Then on Saturday we went to a Sexpo for a laugh. It was very amusing, there was lots of naked people walking around (as you'd expect) and some of the stuff they had at the stalls were very outrageous (to put it nicely). We saw a man painting pictures of people with his you know what...the paintings were suprisingly good! There was pole dancing and male strippers and lots of show bags with weird and wonderful things inside. After a while though it all gets too much!
Sunday morning we went for a run, and then I had a pedicure, which was lovely...that's about it really.

Monday, July 23, 2007

I had some sad news last week that my Grandad had passed away on. He had been poorly for some time, and he'd been in a home for a couple of months so at least he isn't suffering now. I hadn't seen him for nearly 6 years, the last time was at my Dad's funeral, so it brought back a lot of feelings about that too. I'm sure he's in a better place now.
Was feeling sad over the weekend because of that, so had another quiet one. I went back to the doctors on Saturday as I was still coughing, he gave me a puffer which has really helped and I am no longer coughing my guts up! Jason and I are also on a no-alcohol regime until the fun run, we are into our 3rd week now and it's going well (probably cos we haven't been out tho!) We are going to do 5 weeks, so we're halfway there.
We've just got back from kickboxing, and I'm struggling to type cos my arms are shaking so much! It was good fun again, I'm glad to be back exercising. I even went to the gym this morning too.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

So, not much to tell since my last entry. I'm still not feeling 100%, I've got this horrible cough still, but I'm a lot better. Hence we had a pretty quiet weekend. We didn't do hardly anything, just watched dvd's and went to the cinema on Sunday. I didn't make it to my kick boxing yesterday as whenever I exert myself I start coughing...plus it's been really cold here, so that made up my mind! Only 4 weeks to go till the City to Surf, and my hopes of running it are slowly lowering, at this rate I'll be walking the whole way!!
I'm hoping to do a web link with my brother tonight so I can see little Hugo again. Chris has sent me lots of videos, and Hugo is all laughs and smiles...so cute!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

I'm suprised if anyone is still checking my blog as I've been so slack in updating it, but here's another update just in case!
Well, the end of financial year at work finally came to a close, thank goodness, that was pretty full on, we had some drinks on the Friday to celebrate. Saturday was my Birthday (2 weeks ago) I had an ok day, I must admit I was a bit down and not in the party mood which I normally enjoy on my birthday, I was missing my family as they were all together in Slovakia, and I guess I panicked at turning 33! aargh! But I did get some lovely pressies, my cool sunglasses from Jason, and my brother went out of his way and sent some really cool animations of us all on his blog. This was my 3rd birthday here in Oz, who knows where we will be on the next one!
I had my annual review at work the other day, it went really well and my boss was really positive and gave me some excellent feedback, my bonus looks good too....fingers crossed it all works out ;o) He is trying to keep me on until February, but it all depends on the lady who is on on maternity leave and what she decides to do, hopefully I'll find out soon.
Last weekend Sue came out with us for a friend's birthday, hadn't really seen her socially for ages, so it was great to catch up. It wasn't really a big night, but I woke up on Sunday with an awful cough and then it developed into achey muscles and shivers and feeling basically awful. I had to go to work on Monday morning as there was some stuff that needed doing, but I ended up going home at lunchtime, and I've been off since. I'm feeling better today, still not 100%, but I'm going back to work tomorrow, apart from anything, I'm bored stiff.
Jason and I went to a kick boxing class last Monday, it's outdoors training in the park just up the road, I've been wanting to go for ages, but it's been raining all the time. It was a really great class, bloomin hard work tho, I was stiff till the Thursday. We ended up signing up for 12 weeks, we need to do all we can to stay in shape. Unfortunately though because of my flu, I couldn't go on Monday, hopefully I'll be fully recovered next week. I was doing so well last week with my running and training and lunchtime training sessions at work.

Monday, June 25, 2007

I've just been reading my brothers blog, it's so funny, there are entries from Hugo and it's so sweet and amusing. I finally have seen some more updated photos and he has really grown lots, I look forward to checking Chris's blog everyday for some new ones! Hugo was 4 weeks old last Friday, bless him! Chris and Martina had their first wedding anniversary yesterday, congratulations guys. It's hard to believe that it was a year ago we were over there, it'll be going on 2 years the next time I see them :-( I've put some more photos below this.
We finally got our wedding invitations sent out last week and we've had some lovely comments from people that have received them already, they can't believe that we made them ourselves which is very flattering.
On Saturday, Jason took me birthday present shopping, he wanted to buy me some sunglasses as my cheap $10 ones were annoying him as I was always squinting. It took me about an hour to decide which pair to get, in the end I settled for a funky pair of Gucci's! Yes, I know I have expensive taste! I can't wear them until Saturday though, mind you not as if it's sunny enough for them!
After that he took me to a bridal shop over the water, I'd seen the exact earrings in a magazine I want to wear for our wedding, and luckily it mentioned that they sold them locally. So I was really pleased when I got there and found them...plus a matching bracelet, so of course I bought them! Can't get them for another month though as they have to order them in. Then we went to the mall to pick up a heater for our lounge. We didn't get one though, they had all sold out. But I did get some lovely shoes...also for the wedding, I found a great pair and they were half the price of the ones I saw at the wedding shop, plus they weren't bridal shoes which I didn't really want to get cos I wouldn't be able to wear them again, so I've got an appointment on Thursday to try on my dress once more to see if the shoes match.
Sunday we went to another mall, and this time we did pick up a heater, and a couple of dressing gowns, and some pjs! so we're all rugged up for the winter now. Can't remember if I said we'd bought an electric blanket a couple of weeks ago...I love it!
That's about it really, work is still busy, I'm looking forward to the finish of the end of financial year!
Here are some more pics I pinched from my brothers blog!
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How strong is Hugo...he can already hold his head up which is pretty amazing for a 4 week old baby...how clever!
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aaahhh!
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