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

having a dance

the little kids on the bus

and the big kid..

the duck race

musicians at one of the vinyards

and the happy ending

yummy

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

my favourite

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!!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Me with my work colleagues

start of the race

Jase and me with our medals

Bondi

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

How strong is Hugo...he can already hold his head up which is pretty amazing for a 4 week old baby...how clever!

aaahhh!

Well, it's 11am on Sunday morning and I thought it was about time that I made a bit of an effort to write a proper update!

I've been pretty sick for the last week, cos winter is here, there are lots of bugs going around, loads of people have been off sick. I had a day off on Tuesday, but I had to go back on Wednesday as we've got so much work on (that's the trouble with my job, I just can't have the time off). It's the end of financial year June 30th, so as we're in Financial Services it's the busiest time of year. We are just rolling out a new PDS for our Superannuation product as there have been lots of government changes. This has been a nightmare, cos the graphics guys are making mistakes, then the printers are behind because they've had to sort out the artwork, so we're a couple of days behind production which isn't good. Anyway, that's boring!

I'm feeling a bit lost this week, my brother has been in Munich, so I've had no updates on Hugo and no pictures either, I bet he'll have changed loads when I see some updated ones. Chris has been really good, he realises that Mum and I really want to see pics, so he's been putting them on his blog regularly. Hopefully when he gets back home we'll see some more!

Not sure if you'd have seen it on the news, but we've had the most awful weather here. It's better now, but last week it was horrendous, John Howard declared it a natural disaster. The worst hit was Hunter Valley where all the wineries are and Newcastle which is an hour or so up the coast. There were really bad floodings causing the river banks to burst, the places were evacuated and I know there were some deaths too. It was awful in Sydney, I tell you, the drainage here is really bad, I've probably mentioned this before, but the roads just get totally flooded, and this time cos the weather was so bad it was even worse. Up in Newcastle, a huge petrol tanker got grounded on the beach there, I'm not sure if they've managed to move it yet, but there were worries that it was starting to break up, and obviously that would be another disaster. We've pretty much had rain since that, but we've also had a few sunny days. It's getting colder now, Jason and I bought a nice electric blanket last weekend, it's absolute bliss...we love it!!

We have had a pretty quiet weekend so far, we had a friend around for dinner on Friday. We had leek and potato soup, Jason has been making lots of soup lately since I've been sick...bless! Neale had just got back from 3 months in Brazil to visit his girlfriend, so we checked out all his pics.

Yesterday, we went to see Shrek 3 in the morning. I got some free tickets from work. It was really good, the film flew by though. After that we went home and got on with making our wedding invitations, I must say they look really great, I'm really pleased with them, and we haven't made any major mistakes yet! We have still to carry on today, but we're over half way there, hopefully we'll get them sent out early this week.

Well, I'd better go so we can get started again!

As promised, here are some more pics of Hugo

















These are the most recent ones

Haven't really had much chance to write...again! I can't even remember what I've done over the last week, so I'll start off with little Hugo. I finally mananged to see him over the webcam last week, it took me and Chris all night last Sunday to try and get connected, so in the end we postponed it to the next day and it was worth the wait. We had about 30 mins on the camera and Hugo was so well-behaved, I was really impressed, he didn't cry once...Chris had just fed him so he had the cutest hiccups. Sorry for being boring, but he really is the most adorable baby, it's so sad that I can't be closer to him...he's just so cute and tiny, it's making me very broody looking at him I tell you! Chris is so happy, it was really lovely seeing them together.

I'm in the process of trying to upload some more pics..but I'm having trouble, so I'll try again in the week.

It's a boy!!

What an amazing day Friday was. My little nephew Hugo Lewis Plant was born into the world at 00.26 on 25th May weighing 6lbs 7ozs and 48cm long. He's the most beautiful little baby, and I'm so proud.

Chris phoned me on Friday morning just before my college course was about to start and told me the happy news. Of course I just started blubbing on the phone and couldn't find myself to ask any questions! I went back in the room crying and everyone was worried... then I announced I had just become an aunty and everyone congratulated me..funny! Anyway, I couldn't really concentrate for the rest of the day, my mind really was distracted. I finally got home in the evening and Chris sent me a lovely email with some pictures and we spoke on Skype for a bit. He was frantically running around trying to sort out Huey's birth certificate and passport, so they can leave Vienna and go back home....sounds like a nightmare. Anyway, I think he got most of it done, so they should hopefully be home early next week, then I can see him on the webcam, I can't wait! It's been so difficult being all the way over here, and knowing that I won't see him for months :-(

So, here are so photos of gorgeous little Huey with Mum and Dad

So, I finally get around to adding another entry! I've just been speaking with my brother and also had a nice chat with Martina....they are awaiting the imminent arrival of their little baby. Chotcho is due tomorrow, but they did think that the little'un would arrive early, so the last few days I've been glued to my phone waiting on any news! Anyway, Martina has an appointment at the doctors tomorrow, she is getting some natural medicine to hopefully bring on the birth, so it could be any day now...it's all very exciting. Martina sounded really well and relaxed which is good, I'm sure I'd be panicking like mad, so I was very impressed! So watch this space!
My weekend was nice and relaxing, I tell you I needed it after the busy last 2 days at work, Friday was a nightmare, everyone wanted everything doing plus I had to leave at 4pm to get the train to make sure we were at the retreat on time. By the time I sat on the train, I was shattered and stressed, so was really looking forward to getting away! We got there about 7pm on Friday night, so we didn't see much of the place as it was pitch black...it was also absolutely freezing and there was a bitter wind, Sue and I couldn't believe the change just from travelling 2 hours! Our accommodation was really great I was very impressed, it was quite new and had an en suite bathroom and electric blankets which were a lifesaver!. After we'd unpacked we went to the meditation hall for a 30 mins meditation, then it was time for dinner. After that we had a welcome talk with our group for the weekend, then it was time for bed. We didn't get so much sleep that night, me because I was sleeping somewhere new, and Sue because the wind outside was so loud (luckily I had my earplugs, so didn't hear it!). So by the time we had to get up at 7am the next morning we were still pretty tired. Again we had another meditation and then did some tai chi, after which was breakfast, then a talk. And that was pretty much how the whole weekend panned out, we did have a really good time, the place was great and the setting was beautiful, the views were pretty amazing, the people who worked there were lovely...they give up their precious time just to come and look after their guests (they all volunteer) they really looked after us well. Saying that, by the time Saturday lunchtime came, I'd pretty much had enough, it was so full on with the meditating and the talks, I didn't feel so relaxed anymore. Our group was 50 people, so you're constantly making small talk with everyone and it got pretty tiring, so on Sunday after morning tea, Sue and I decided to leave early and get back home...what a good decision that was, it meant I got home at a reasonable time and I could relax a bit before my course on Monday.
As for this week, I started my communications course on Monday, and I'm having the best time, it's the best (and most challenging) course I've ever done, the people are so great, we all really connected pretty much straight away and there has been a lot of learning and sharing about ourselves. Even in 3 days I've learnt more about myself than I ever have before, it's really hard to explain, but it's just a great journey to be on (that makes me sound all counsellorish!) but it's true. I took a weeks annual leave to do this, but I don't begrudge using my precious holiday, it doesn't even feel like I'm doing a training course....we've still got another 2 days to do and I'm really looking forward to them. It is pretty intensive too, we've had assessments and lots of readings to do, I even had to do a presentation to the group on Tuesday (we only had notice on Monday) so there wasn't much time to prepare. I was absolutely scared stiff about this, I've never done a presentation before, but I did it, and passed the assessment which I was really pleased about, it was quite a buzz, but I was so glad when it was over. This course is really taking me out of my comfort zone which is a good thing, I'm gaining so much more confidence, I'm even enjoying the role plays and speaking in front of the group now...who'd have thought!!
So here, are some photos from the weekend
This is where we stayed



The view from our room


The Stone Cottage at the bottom of the hill


The gardens of the Stone Cottage

We had a nice weekend, Jason's friends were down from Brisbane, they weren't staying with us, but we did catch up with them on Friday and Saturday night, so I was feeling pretty tired yesterday. We were also really busy doing wedding stuff. On Saturday we went to a wedding stationery shop, we had an appointment with the woman who owned it, she hand makes all the invitations etc, the stationery was beautiful, there were so many to choose from. So we told her what we were looking for and she drew up a couple of designs and gave us a quote. Obviously we wanted to shop around a bit, so after we went to another place where my friend from work got hers. The invitations weren't quite as nice, but we started to look around the shop and saw that you can actually make your own, which intrigued us. We had a lot of ideas and the lady in the shop helped us find all the stuff we needed, so we bought a couple of blank cards etc for a test run before we made up our minds. So, on Sunday we got out the craft glue, the glue gun and all our other bits and bobs and got to work. I was quite happy cos Jason and I really wanted the same style, so there were no arguments about that ;o) We made two cards, the second much better than the first, but we were really impressed with how they turned out, so I think we will probably go with making them. I'm really pleased we are making them, I think it adds a personal touch (but don't worry, they don't look like 5 year olds made them!!) This was the first wedding thing Jason and I have really done together, apart from looking at hotel websites, so it was really nice to do this with him, I'm sure sometimes Jason feels like I'm taking over...he's probably right though, I'm a bit of a control freak, but I'm trying to keep him involved!

So that's about it from me. I've got a pretty quiet week this week, no college which is nice. We're playing tennis tomorrow night, and then I'm off to the Blue Mountains on Friday after work for the weekend with Sue. We are going to a retreat I found out about through the meditation school I sometimes go to. It looks really beautiful on the website, it'll be a nice break away with no TV, or alcohol! I just hope it's not one of those retreats where you can't talk all weekend....I definitely think we would struggle with that one!!

Everything has been happening this last week. Our travel for the wedding is now confirmed, I put the deposit down on Tuesday...exciting! We have to pay for our flights in the next week too. Also, I've found my wedding dress ;o) I went back to the shop where the 2 I liked were from and I saw another one, so I tried it on and both Sue and I knew it was 'the one'. I'm so relieved as I was beginning to think that I wouldn't get that feeling of buying the perfect dress, I even tried on one of the other ones I liked before, but I tell you it looked noway near as nice,how lucky that I saw this one. So I put my deposit on that too (that's how much I loved it!) The reason I was worried about finding something was that they take 6 months to make the dresses, so I had to get it sorted pretty quick, so that's another thing I don't have to worry about...well, it's to the wedding dress diet now!! We also had a look at bridesmaids dresses for Sue, but it was only a quick look as I'd already spent most of the afternoon posing in the mirrors in my dress!Saturday night Jason took me out to dinner as a thank you for getting all the travel arrangements sorted, which was sweet, we went to the Italian up the road. Sunday we went to see Spiderman, really enjoyed it, great special effects. This week I haven't had a chance to speak to anyone, I've been really busy studying up on my college notes, we had an assessment last night, have been very nervous about it as the mock one we did last week didn't go too well. I wasn't prepared for it at all, plus I'd had my flu vaccination and I think my head was a bit spaced out! Anyway, it wasn't as bad as I thought, I think I did ok, I'm trying to be positive! I must say, I've forgotten what it's like to write, my hand was really aching after the test! We have now got a two week break between terms, but I have signed up for the Communications course on one of those weeks, I've had to take a week off work to do it, but I need to as part of my course, bit of a waste of holiday, but never mind, the course is supposed to be really good.

So now I can relax a bit over the next week which is good. Well apart from going to wedding invitation shops at the weekend...it never ends!!