Jason and I went out on Friday night, we had a really yummy feed at a Thai restaurant we hadn't tried before, I had Massaman curry, which was great. Jason had the 'Prick King'...haha! We then went to the cinema to see the Holiday which I really enjoyed, it was just the sort of film you want to see at Christmas to get you in the spirit. The next day we went out and bought a Christmas CD! they don't play any Christmas songs on the radio here, it's quite depressing.

After we went shopping on Saturday morning, I went for a facial. It was the best facial ever, I had my eyebrows shaped, my shoulders massaged, my feet, hands and arms massaged, it was lovely...and all for an hour and a half...bliss! It wasn't cheap though, but it was a nice treat. Saturday night we went around to Di's for a bbq it was nice to see everyone again as I hadn't seen a few of them for a while. After the bbq we went down to the Coogee bay hotel for a bit of a dance, it was pretty late though so we didn't stay long. Jason and I popped into Mcdonalds on the way home... as you do. We met one of the All Blacks there, of course I had no idea who he was, but Jason was estactic, especially as the guy plays for the Hurricanes too (Jasons fav NZ team) He was called Ma Nonu (I kept calling him Nanu Nanu...Mork and Mindy style as I couldn't remember his name!) I got my photo taken with him, but I don't know how to upload the pics from my phone onto the computer so I can't show you...I'll have to figure it out. Anyway, it made Jason's night, except he was gutted he didn't get a photo with him!

Yesterday we had a lie in and relaxed a bit, then in the evening we went down to the beach for Carols in Coogee. It was really nice, they had a big stage with an orchestra... the place was packed with families. We stayed for a couple of hours to get into the festive spirit, then came home and watched a dvd.

I'm so relieved I've only got 4 more days left at work, I can't wait to have a week off, work is madly busy. I'm looking forward to Christmas day, Jason and I have booked a hotel for dinner, it's a seafood buffet and the food sounds yummy, the bonus is they've got a huge selection of desserts, we'll have to starve ourselves beforehand!!

Had the most amazing time at Robbie last night, he was really on top form. I think it was probably the best time I've seen him (I've seen him 5 times) even Jason loved it, and he really doesn't like Robbie at all!! I saw him bopping around and singing along, it was really funny...I keep taking the mickey now!! The set was really good, loads of fireworks and flames and lights. We were quite far back though, so I did struggle to see a lot, even the screens were quite hard to see at some points...but I didn't let it stop me going mad...I was screaming and allsorts...haha!

This is my first night in in 4 nights, last week was really busy. Thursday night I went to a customer of ours Christmas party, it was at a lovely location with a great view of the harbour. Friday it was Jason's works do which was ok, but it was mostly men. Saturday we went to the chiropractors to look at our x-rays. I couldn't believe mine, my spine really does curve to the left it was quite freaky looking at it. The chiro said it was pretty bad and it would take a few months to fix it. Anyway, Jason needed a bit of treatment too because of his back accident the other week, so he decided to start straight away, I stayed in the room to see what it was all about....but not for long, I started to feel really queezy when he was cracking Jasons neck so I had to leave the room! I've been speaking to some people and I think I will get a second opinion, and maybe not a chiropractor...I'm such a wuss, I don't think I could do it!

So after that we picked up my Christmas present from Jason (not telling you what it is yet!!) Then we went to Sue and Rogers for a dinner party in the evening. Yesterday it was shopping and then to see Robbie ;o)

Here are some pics...

here are some pics from my works Christmas party:

on my way to the party


with a couple of the girls


these 2 are for Jane....showing off my fascinator





and here is our Christmas tree

I'm just trying to remember what I've done over the past week!

Oh yes, on Wednesday evening I went to a meditation class which was really very interesting, although I haven't practised what I learnt, I must get around to finding time every day.

I've been going to the gym in the mornings, and I must say it's really making a difference, I'm starting to get lines on my abs where I'm getting more toned, it's quite motivating! I'll have to keep it up. Plus I tried on my first wedding dress last week, so I just keep picturing myself in my dress and how I want to look. Trying on my first dress was a weird experience I must say. I felt a bit like I was dressing up in my Mums clothes like I wasn't old enough to be wearing a wedding dress! I know I am, but in my head I'm still 18!! The dresses were gorgeous, the first one was lovely, but not really 'the one'....the second one I fell in love with, but I'm not sure it's appropriate for a beachy wedding, but the lady did say, it shouldn't matter, it's what you want thats the most important thing, so we'll see. I've been dying to tell Jason about it, but obviously I can't! I'm getting quite excited about it. It was improptu, I wasn't planning on trying on a dress yet, but I was waiting to meet a friend so thought I'd pop in and get prices, but ended up trying a couple on! I told my Mum about it the other day, and we're both looking forward to when she comes over so we can go looking together. Jason and I actually bought our wedding rings last weekend too. Again, it wasn't planned, we just went to get an idea for prices, but we saw a couple of really nice rings at a great price so thought sod it, we've got to get them at some point!

What else....Friday night we had our works Christmas party, I had Sue's lovely dress to wear, and one of my colleagues brought in a fascinator (head piece) that his wife had made, it was beautiful, the colour was really lovely, it had a deep red rose and deep red feathers and some black beading, I'm going to put a photo on my blog soon. It was quite funny as soon as I walked in Luigi grabbed me and said to me and Katherine that we'd make his Christmas if he could have his picture taken with us, so we did that, and then I was just about to walk off, when the big boss asked Luigi to get me back cos he wanted his photo taken with us too!! I've never met the CEO before, so it was a bit scary trying to keep a nice smile without twitching too much! We had a really good night, the party was at the NSW Art Gallery, but it did finish really early, so after a few of us went to Oxford St for a few drinks. Me and my boss were the last ones out, he made sure I got in the taxi ok, I just hope I didn't say anything stupid...I can't really remember!!

Yesterday, we had to get up early for our X-rays for our backs. I wasn't in the best of form! We'd also planned to go to the races with Gemma and Garry, so I had to get dressed up again. I felt a bit weird tho as I wore the same as I'd had on the previous night, but you have to wear a fascinator at the races!! About 5pm I started to feel a bit dodgy so Jason and I went home. It was absoulutely throwing it down with rain, I tell you, the weather has been really rubbish here lately, and it was supposed to be the first day of summer on Friday!

Today we've just been shopping and we bought our first Christmas tree, I'm really pleased, and we got some nice decs too, not sure when we should put them up, asap I think...I'm not in the Christmas spirit again this year, it's definitely not as commercialised over here.

I met Sue from work last Thursday night, I had arranged to go around to her flat for the night to raid her wardrobe for my works Christmas party next Friday which has a Chicago gangster Club theme, I have absolutely nothing glam to wear so Sue said she'd help me out. We had a nice meal at hers and I tried on a few dresses and found the perfect one, it's a bit clingy, but as long as I don't eat much for the rest of the week I should be ok!!

Friday after work I went to the gym, I have actually been going in the mornings lately, but because I stayed at Sue's I hadn't made it 3 times that week. I much prefer going in the mornings, once I'm out of bed I'm ok, it's just getting out of bed at 6am thats a killer! I've even noticed a difference in the shape of my body which is great. Anyway, back to Friday, I was the only one there for a while, so Michelle worked me out really hard, I had to do the circuit whilst she counted the reps I did on every machine, and on the 2nd time around I had to go even harder. I tell you, I thought I was going to be sick I was exhausted! It was good tho, it's not often you get one on one time.

Saturday, Jason and I went to our follow up appointments at the Chiropractors. He took a look at my back and my posture and he told me I had a sway back, which means a very acute curve in my lower spine, and then at the top, my neck goes forward, what with my wonky shoulders and waist, it seems I have to have a lot of work done to get my posture corrected. We are both having our x-rays next week and then we will go back for a further consultation...what a nightmare!

I didn't go out on Saturday night, I've really needed these last 2 chilled out weekends, they have been great. Last night I went to see Kylie. It was a really great concert, no U2, but still good fun. It would have been more fun if I wasn't on my own, but never mind. She put on a really good show, I was quite suprised at how raunchy it was, no wonder all the gay men love her shows, she has loads of hunky men galavanting on the stage in skimpy costumes. I did wonder as there were lots of children there, if it was my kids, I probably would have covered their eyes...but as it was, I really enjoyed it ;o)

I had asked Jason to tape the final of Aus Idol for me in the hope that I could just watch the announcement when I got home (I knew that I would find out the next day before I could watch it myself) but I didn't bargain on some loudmouth girls on the way to the train shouting out that Damien had won....I tell you I nearly turned around and shouted at them, bloody idiots. So they ruined it for me :-( Oh well, I will still watch it sometime this week.

It's been a really hot day today....38 degrees and very windy. When I came out of work I could smell the smoke from the bush fires out west, there was even the embers from the fires floating around the sky, it was quite eerie. There are real problems at this time of year with the fires, even some houses have been burnt down.
When I got off the bus near home it had cooled down considerably. What a relief!!

Went back to see U2 again last Monday night. It was really good again, maybe not as good as Saturday as we were right up in the heavens as only seated tickets were left, so the atmosphere wasn't as good. Also I stood up and the woman behind me told me to sit down, which I found really bizarre as we were at a rock concert!! Anyway, we found another couple of seats where people were being a bit more enthusiastic, so I managed to stand up there.
Tuesday I finally was able to meet my friend from Munich, Nicola who was visiting her sister. We had a nice lunch and a bit of a catch up. It's so funny how many people I know from overseas that have come over here.
Apart from that it's been a pretty quiet week, which I needed after the last few weeks. I went out with Sue after work on Thursday, was great to see her again, I haven't been able to for a while. As usual we had a laugh, it's great to have a chat with a girlfriend like Sue.
On Friday at work I got roped into playing netball! Bernard (they play mixed teams here) has asked me before, but I've always said no, I mean, it's been over 15 years since I've played and I didn't want to make a fool of myself! Anyway, he asked me again on Friday and I said no again, but after I felt really guilty, so I said, ok, if you can't find anyone else than I guess I can do it. So, of course, he couldn't find anyone else so I had to do it. For some silly reason they put me on as Goal Keeper which I found hard to understand considering my lack of height! Anyway, I coped, but it was pretty hard, I managed a few blocks, but couldn't stop any of the goals, I was pretty knackered afterwards, I didn't expect the GK to have to work so hard!! We did actually win tho 12-10 which I was pleased about, I didn't want them to lose because of me!!
I didn't finish work until a bit later on Friday, we had a few drinks courtesy of work and I did have a lot of work to do. I came home to a lovely home cooked meal, lentil burgers with a cheese, onion and spinach relish...it was absolutely yummy, I'm such a lucky girl! I was so looking forward to the weekend and doing nothing, we've been out so much lately and we've hardly done anything on our own, but this weekend we didn't have so much on.
Saturday morning we went to the Body, Mind and Spirit exhibition, we spent lots of money on books, spine alignments (my shoulders are very wonky!) hand cream etc etc. It was a very interesting day. In the evening, Jason went to see Pearl Jam again, I had a nice night in on my own...I don't often get any 'me' time so I was looking forward to it. I actually ended up on the phone all night tho, first to Mum, then on Skype to Chris. We did have a good long chat as it had been a while. I did manage to fit in watching my dvd, Mrs Henderson Presents, which was very good.

Sunday Jason and I went around to Grant and Sue's for Grant's birthday. We had a really nice evening, Grant's sister Helen was there visiting from New Zealand with her husband John, Mum and I met them when we were there last year. Had lots of yummy food and wine, then came home to relax a bit before going to bed.

I was up early on yesterday to go to the gym, I must say that I do feel much better going in the morning, it's just so hard to get out of bed! I had an induction course at work all day, it wasn't as bad as I thought, but it's annoying cos I've got so much work to do I would rather be doing that.

Happy News!!

I can finally tell you the great news that I'm going to be an Aunty!! My brother and his wife are 3 months pregnant! They told me a few weeks ago whilst Mum was on holiday over there, I was talking to them on Skype with the webcam and Chris showed a picture of the scan. I couldn't work out what it was for ages, thought it was a picture of the galaxy....then I realised what it was. Obviously the first thing I did was burst into tears!! It is such amazing news, they were all laughing at me, I actually didn't stop crying for the next couple of days. I'm really happy, but I'm also very sad that I'm so far away, I didn't realise it would affect me this much, I didn't think I would feel this way, I don't mean to sound selfish, but I am a bit cos I want to be a part of my neice of nephews life (see I'm starting myself off again getting all emotional!!) I guess I will just have to deal with it and I'm sure they will always be sending pics and stuff. Chris is amazing, he knows just how I feel, so he really understands what I'm going through so I don't have to explain anything to him, and I know he'll always make sure I'm a part of their lives.

So Martina had the 3 month scan on Monday, and all is well, he/she looks more like a baby now in the picture, it's very exciting!!

Went to see U2 last night and they were amazing....I'm still buzzing!! Luckily Jason's back was so much better that he felt up to going to the concert, which was great news...those painkillers were really doing their job! We got to the Olympic park pretty early for a few drinks before going into the stadium. When we got in there, we were really close to the front, plus the stage was elevated so it was a bit easier to see than normal. I actually ended up missing Kanye West, but I wasn't that bothered, we were getting drinks and t-shirts at the time (got a really cool t-shirt!). He only was on for half an hour.

When U2 came on, we all went mad...the atmosphere was electric. I actually had a bit of a cry (I know I'm really sad, but it was really overwhelming, plus I had drunk a couple of buckets of wine!!) had the best night ever, they played for over 2 hours, it was amazing, best concert I've been to. I had another couple of cries throughout the night (a couple of the songs remind me of going to Wales when I was little with my Dad), everyone was laughing at me, I was singing through my tears. I'm a bit stiff today from all that jumping up and down! It's so great that I finally got chance to see them live, I've loved them for years and they didn't disappoint....in fact we had such a good time that Jason and I have bought some more tickets for the extra show tomorrow night!! I'm really excited ;o) The visual show was amazing, a great sight to see.

some pics

It was a pretty late night last night so we had a bit of a lie-in today. We went to the Newtown festival this afternoon for Rach's birthday celebration. It was a boiling day and absolutely packed, we had some nice food and listened to some bands then I came home and Jason and Reece have gone to the pub for a bit. I'm just getting ready for Australian Idol, it's the final 3, all very exciting. I'm a bit gutted tho as I've just found out that the final is on the same night as the Kylie Minogue concert I'm going to, plus Linn is probably getting more tickets for the final, so I guess I will just have to tape it, it's a real shame as I've watched the whole series...oh well, you can't have it all!

It's been a bit of an eventful week. Last night I had to call an ambulance for Jason, he had injured his back playing touch rugby. He came home in pain, but could walk, so he took some painkillers and had a rest, then went to bed. But about 2am he woke up in agony, I didn't really know what to do, I didn't even know the phone number for the ambulance so I had to look on the internet. It was pretty scary cos he was so bad, it took all my control to stop my voice wobbling when I was speaking to the hospital! We got to the hospital about 3am where Jason had some x-rays and more painkillers. Luckily there were no abnormalities on the x-ray. At about 4am he had some more painkillers, the doctor came back 2 hours later to see if he could get out of bed, but he was in too much pain to stand up, so she gave him some more to see how he was in a couple of hours. I thought I'd better go home for an hour to try and get some sleep, I was supposed to be working, I also had to organise someone to pick up Jason's friend Reece, who'd come over from New Zealand for the weekend, such bad timing I tell you, luckily Rachel had the day off so she did if for us. So anyway, I had an hours sleep, then spoke to my boss who said to take the day off to look after Jason. Then I went back to the hospital to pick him up. I got him home ok, he's still in a lot of pain and can hardly walk, he's really drugged up on painkillers, poor thing. I don't know if he'll be able to go to the U2 concert tomorrow, we'll have to see how he feels...fingers crossed.

As for the rest of the week, Monday, not only did Linn, Martin and I get tickets for Idol, but we got VIP tickets!! It was great fun, I regressed to being a teenager, I loved it. Got the butterflies before going on air, Linn was laughing at me cos I was all hyped up. After the show, the presenter Andrew G who knew the guy who had got our tickets asked us if we all wanted to go to the green room after. Of course we did go, Anthony Callea (former Oz idol winner) was there, then we met the presenters. I talked to the remaining singers, there are only 3 left now. Jess who I want to win was so sweet, she gave me a hug when I told her I thought she should win! So that was a great night. When I got back I watched it on video, and we were on TV loads, when I went to work the next day, one of the guys said that the cameraman much have fancied me as we were on so much, haha! they were all really jealous.

Tuesday it was Melbourne Cup day, I went to the pub with my boss and the guys (I was ordered to!) I came 2nd on the sweepstake and won $16. In the evening we went to the Pearl Jam concert. It was really good, although I only knew about 3 of the songs.

Wednesday night we went to dinner with Sean, Tommo and Rach, had a lovely Italian meal..yum.

Last night I had my weigh in at the gym. I lost nearly 6cm all over...2 from my belly, 1 from my waist and a bit from my thighs, but I had managed to put on a bit of weight. The trainer said that was normal tho, as muscle weighs heavier than fat...so I'm on track.

Well, I was really sick last Sunday night, I had to take the day off work on Monday I was so bad, so I didn't get a chance to see my boss from Munich on Monday night. Luckily I was feeling better on Tuesday so I managed to meet up with him then. It was nice to catch up him and his daughter, she is over here for a while to improve her English. They took us to a really expensive seafood restaurant at Darling Harbour. It was very nice, but the portions were very small..so small in fact that I was still hungry after!! I'll stick to cheap and cheerful next time!

I haven't got to catch up with Nicola yet, I didn't hear from her all week, but she called me at the weekend, and we hope to meet up when she comes back from up the coast.

We had a really nice weekend at Hunter Valley, we went up straight from work on Friday. Linn had hired a really nice house for all of us, it was so peaceful, right in the middle of nowhere. Friday night we just had a few drinks in the house, then Saturday we went out for the wine tour. It was a great laugh, we all dressed up, Linn asked us to wear some sort of headwear and footwear for it...she was dressed up as a ballerina! There were some funny costumes, imagine the looks we got, there was about 15 dressed up! We visited some really nice wineries, one winery they had a huge St Bernard, he was so cute.

We had quite a big party when we got back,but I was so tired I had to go to bed about 11pm. You should have seen the state of the place in the morning, it took a lot of cleaning up.

Today we left at midday and took a drive to a couple more wineries and did some tasting in some cheese and chocolate shops. We bought some yummy cheese and tried some chocolate dipped strawberries and marshmallows...heaven! I really love Hunter Valley, it's so peaceful, and of course drinking wine, eating cheese and chocolate helps!

Tomorrow night Linn and Martin have got me a ticket to see Australian Idol at the TV studio, unfortunately it's not the show when they sing, but the elimination night, but it should still be good fun, wonder if I'll get on TV?!!

This week's gonna be so busy again, Tuesday night we're going to see Pearl Jam, Weds we're going to Seans for dinner, then Friday Jasons' friend is arriving from New Zealand for the U2 concert on Saturday...it's all go!!!

here are some pics

Our house for the weekend

The gang

me and Jase

the St Bernard

It's been quite a busy week, I've been to the gym lots, I'm really enjoying it, although I'm not looking forward to my weigh-in next week! On Wednesday night, we went out to meet Martin's parents who are over from Sweden, we went to the Cushion Bar, they had a couple of guys playing guitars and singing, they were really good. Martin's parents were lovely, they kept inviting us to stay with them if ever we were in Sweden.

Friday at work we had a picnic in the Botanical Gardens, it was a really nice couple of hours, I don't really make much of an effort to go out at lunch, which I should as I'm only a 2 minute walk from Circular Quay where the Opera House is (you can see the Harbour Bridge from my office window, how lucky am I!!). I met Jason after work at Darling Harbour, we had free tickets for the Imax, a film called Extreme, it was really good, lots of rock climbing and snowboarding, cool! After we went to dinner and to a couple of bars. We also popped into the casino at Star City, it was heaving, lots of Asians gambling away their money!

Yesterday I went to the gym in the morning, then cleaned the apartment, then Jason and I went for a game of tennis. We played a proper game this time, and it was much more interesting than just volleying. I was actually quite ok at it, Jason was suprised, I managed to serve pretty well. I won a few sets, but I think Jason was being nice to me! We are playing badminton on Wednesday.

I met up with Sue in the evening to go to my friend Gemma's flat. She had organised a 'girls night in' in aid of the Breast cancer charity. She went to a real effort, we had a really nice evening, she'd made all the dips and breads and lots of other tasty nibbles. I was quite chuffed too, I won the main prize in the raffle (I've been quite lucky lately) one of the girls who works at a day spa got them to donate a spa treatment for the cause, so for $10, I won a $100 Full body exfoliation with mineral salts, followed by a Vichy shower water treatment (sounds intriguing!) everyone was really jealous!! We raised over $400 for the night which we were really pleased about, all in all, a great night....but it wasn't over, I had arranged to meet up with Linn and the guys in the city afterwards to celebrate her 30th birthday, so I had a fun night with them too, didn't get home until about 4am, plus daylight savings started today, so we've lost another hour. It's 2pm, and I've only just got up and showered!!

I've got a busy week ahead. My ex-boss from HP, Munich is in town to visit his daughter, so he is taking Jason and I out for dinner tomorrow night, I'm trying to think of a nice place to take him. Then Nicola, a friend I know from Munich also is out her to visit her sister, so I'm sure we'll meet up a couple of times. And next Friday night, we are off for a weekend at Hunter Valley (wine region). Linn organised it as part of her 30th birthday celebrations, I think there are quite a few of us going, so it should be good fun. We have a wine tour booked for the Saturday which I'm really looking forward to!

We had Rach and Stu around for dinner on Friday night, Jason cooked a nice curry and some mushroom chips. Next day I went to get my eyes tested.... now I've got my health insurance I thought I'd make the most of it. Apparently my right eye has got a bit better and my current glasses are too strong so I have to get new lenses. I was going to keep my frames and just change the lenses, but I started looking at the frames in the shop and mine looked really old fashioned compared to them (seeing as they are about 8 years old, I guess that makes sense!). So I found a really nice pair, I just have to wait over a week while they get made.

Saturday night we went to Curly's for his girlfriend Sabrina's birthday. She is Brazillian, so there was lots of dancing and food and strong cocktails. We ended up getting home about 2.30.

Yesterday we had a lie-in, then we went to the cinema to see a new Australian film, Boytown, it's a mickey take of a group of middle aged guys that were in a boyband in the 80s, they got back together for a comeback. It was very funny, some of the songs they sang were hilarious, instead of aiming for the younger audience, they were dedicating their music to all the older woman that used to be their fans (there was Pussy whipped, Love Handles, Special time of the month) very amusing. After that we took a walk down to the beach as it was a lovely day and sat down with the papers, it was nice to get some sunshine, the weather has been up and down for about a month, you don't know what it's going to be like from one day to the next!

I've just been listening to the news, they are saying that the price of bread and milk is going to increase because of the drought. It's been raining lots, but the dams are still only 40% full. There is a joke that people should go on holiday to the catchment areas cos it never rains there!!

I've made myself a vow, I'm not going swimming in the sea again in Australia. There has been quite a few shark sightings in recent weeks, there was a tiger shark at Bondi, it was sighted 50 metres from the shore. Then our friend Sean, who lives right near Coogee beach here said there were a couple of warnings there, apparently the sirens went off and everything.....never again I say.... I'm sticking to our swimming pool!!

I've been really good with my exercising this week, I've been to the gym twice and Jason and I played tennis tonight. I really enjoyed it actually...I haven't played tennis for about 15 years, and I'm still rubbish at it! Poor Jason was probably really bored, it's not as if I couldn't hit the ball at all, but I did miss a lot!! We've decided to try badminton next week as I told him I'm a bit better at that...we'll see! The last time I played that was in Germany with my brother, he was really cruel to me and made me run all over the court trying to hit the shuttlecock...I was knackered after!

I joined a gym this week. Well it's not really a proper gym, it's called Curves and it's just for women. It's a circuit of strength training machines. I really like it there, they measure and weigh you every month to keep track of how you're getting on, and it's really personalised, normally at a gym you're just another face, but here they really speak to you to see how you're getting on. They promise you that you only need to go for 30 mins, 3 times a week, which sounds good to me! One of the staff promised me lots of toned, lean muscles, which is great! I'm trying to persuade my Mum to join the one up the road from her in England, hopefully she'll give it a try.

I met Sue after work last night, we went to some new bars in the city which were really good. Whilst we were walking to a different bar, I bumped into Satomi (the Japanese girl that I lived with when I first moved to the city...remember she speaks Engrish!!) we were both really shocked to see each other after so long. She was telling me that the house where we lived had been set on fire. One of the girls that lived there left a candle on when she went out...she also left the window open so the wind blew the flame and the place caught fire! This was back in April and Michael, the landlord still can't live there as it's still being renovated, so it must have been really bad. Satomi said he was even thinking of sueing the girl (who is now back in UK) I'm so lucky I wasn't still living there...Satomi said a lot of her stuff was ruined. So that was a bit of gossip. It was funny, I had walked nearby to the house a few months ago and I thought that it looked like it'd been in an explosion!

Anyway, after that we had a few more drinks, but unfortunately Sue had had a really busy week, so she went home at about 11.30...I was a bit disappointed as I was in the mood for a boogie, but it was probably a good thing, I managed to be in bed at a reasonable hour, which meant I could get up early this morning and go to the gym. It was quite tough finding the energy to exercise, as it was really hot (today and yesterday there was a high of 37 degrees!) ...but I did manage some and felt really good after. I was quite flattered...one of the women there was saying how slim I looked, but that was probably because I was so young...she then asked me how old I was and I said 32, she couldnt' believe it, she thought I was about 22!! I just thought to myself, she must be a bit blind, hahaa!!

So after that I got home and we went for a dip in the pool (my first one) it was absolutely freezing, but so refreshing after being in the heat. We stayed there for about an hour, then had some lunch. This afternoon we've just been to the shops to buy some cds and our weekly shopping. Just tried to phone my brother, but I guess he's gone out. Maybe will try again tomorrow. Not sure what we're doing tonight...we're both pretty hot sat at home...the good thing about living in Australia is you can always go to a bar or to the cinema to find some relief from the heat with the aircon, so maybe we'll do that!

I'm just trying to remember what we did last week! I can remember the weekend, so I'll start there. Friday night we went to Bondi to meet up with Mike who was back from the mines for a few days, we also caught up with Gemma and Garry, our Irish friends who we always have trouble meeting up with. It was a pretty quiet night tho, we were home about midnight.

Saturday night we entertained Linn and Martin, they came around for one of Jason's specialities, tuna and tomato risotto. Linn had already drunk a bottle of champagne before she came around, so she was very amusing! I'd been speaking to my brother on Skype just before they came around and was telling them about it, they'd never used it before, so I decided to show them how it worked. We phoned Chris up and Linn was just amazed, then I put the webcam up so she could see him and she went mental, it was so funny...she was right up against the camera waving at him..no wonder he couldn't see us! It was so weird to be able to introduce my friends to my brother over the internet! After dinner I had a singing lesson, Linn is a trained singer, so she was giving me some tips, it was really funny, she showed me how to breathe correctly and then we sang. She said I have a really good ear for music and that my pitch is really good, I was quite chuffed. I'm going to try and have another lesson soon.

Sunday we all went around to Curly's girlfriends friends house, for a bbq. The house was huge and really beautiful, they had a swimming pool too, but unfortunately as soon as we got there the weather turned rubbish. It was a good day though, lots of nice food.

We've got our tickets for New Years Eve now, we are going to see the Basement Jaxx on Bondi Beach, so it should be great fun ;o)

It's been a pretty busy week and weekend. On Wednesday night, Jason and I went back to the Lowenbrau for the Oktoberfest. There was a big table of us, it was quite good fun. The entertainment was fun, but it wasn't very authentic German, more like Swiss or Austrian. The band were playing tunes on the cowbells, then Sue and I and 8 other girls got dragged up to play them...when the guy pointed his microphone at us, we had to ring them....we played Edelweiss very well!! Then they had beer drinking competitions. The food wasn't the best though, I don't think we'll be going back again anytime soon, and it's really expensive too!

here are some pics.....(sorry, I'm having trouble resizing them)

Playing the cowbells

Sue and I with our cowbells

Having a beer

Friday, I won the raffle 1st prize at work ($80) I was well chuffed, so I took Jason for a night out in the city. We went to a few bars along Oxford Street, it was good fun. We didn't get home til really late so we had a lie in on Saturday. We had to go to the supermarket as we were entertaining in the evening, so we bought lots of yummy dips and nibbles. We had a really nice evening, Rach, Stu, Curly, Sue and Roger all came around, they really liked our new home, Rach says it's really welcoming which is nice. We've got even more photos up now, we've ran out of shelf space!

Sunday we went down to the pub in the afternoon to meet Jason's cousin who was over with the navy, we also met up with Sean and his friends. It was a really good afternoon....even better was that there was a public holiday the next day. We stayed there until about 12.30 when it closed, I didn't want to leave as we were having fun :-( it's probably a good job that we did though, otherwise today I would have been even more knackered. We haven't done much today, just lazed around watching tv...I love days like that!

These weeks go by so quickly, it's Monday before I know it, and again it's been a week since updated my blog! I can't even remember what I did last week. I think it was Thursday we had Rod around for dinner as a thank you for helping us move flat. I bought a new cookery book, so Jason cooked us a nice meal from that...I'm really getting too used to being cooked for all the time, I really can't be bothered to cook anymore. Friday after work I went for a couple of drinks with the guys from work (me and 6 men!). We went to the Customs House which is a really popular bar in the summer, it was packed outside cos the evening was so warm. After that I met up with Jason. I had booked a table for the Oktoberfest at the Lowenbrau bier keller in town, but when we got there we got shoved into the back room of the place and not in the hall where all the entertainment was. I wasn't very happy as I'd booked the table weeks ago! In the end we just decided to have a drink there and then go back on Wednesday night as Sue's friend had booked a table for a big group of us, so we went for a curry instead.

Saturday I went shopping for some new work clothes. I had quite a successful day, I bought some nice new things, I still need some more work shoes though. I really do struggle with the shoes over here, I've bought that many pairs, and I can't think of one pair that don't hurt when I wear them...even the bloomin flip flops hurt! Jason picked me up when I'd finished (5 hours later!) and we briefly went to the pub to say goodbye to Linn and Martin who are off to New Zealand for their holiday. Then we went home and Jason cooked for me again, we had chick pea salsa in tortillas with sour cream and avocado amongst other lovely things. After that, we decided to pop down the road to Coogee for a few drinks as it was such a nice evening, it's the first time since we've moved that we've been out on a Saturday night!

Sunday it was boiling, 33 degrees with a really hot wind. We had to shut the windows to keep the hot air out. We decided to go to the cinema to keep cool, we saw An Inconvenient Truth, the documentary about global warming by Al Gore. It was really interesting, but also frustrating at the same time....why can't these polititians do more to acknowledge what is going on in our world and do something about it, things would be so different if Al Gore had been voted President and not George Bush...at least he cares about what is going on! It showed that America really is the worst offender. Anyway, that was about it for Sunday, we just watched a dvd in the evening (after Australian Idol). We were watching the news and there were lots of bush fires yesterday, I can't believe it's only just spring and they are having these problems already. It was a very oppressive day.

I'm feeling very tired and sleepy today, even though it's a lot cooler, I think yesterday took it's toll on everyone. I managed to go for a run after work, don't know where I got the energy!! I also finally got my New Zealand residency application ready to send off this week... that's been a long time coming, so much info to get together, all those police checks and medicals...cost me a fortune!

The weather here was beautiful over the weekend, considering last weekend was wet, cold and windy, it goes from one extreme to the other!

Didn't do so much, on Friday night we went around to Rach and Stu's as they had just got back from their 3 week trip to UK, we had a few drinks there. Then Saturday day we spent a fortune on getting my pictures developed and photo frames to put them in. I spent the afternoon putting them up around the house, and I must say, I'm so pleased with them. There are a lot of landscape pictures from my trip, lots of sunsets and beaches....they really look quite professional, I can't stop looking at them I'm that pleased!!

In the evening we just watched a dvd (it was the 3rd Saturday night we've stayed in!!). Sunday we went to Newtown, there was an Earth festival on which involved lots of djs and loads of hippies on drugs! It wasn't my thing really, but it was nice to catch up with our friends. I didn't stay that late, I got home about 6pm and watched Australian Idol, I've never really got into it before, but it's easy to get hooked.

That's about it really, back to work today and busy as ever!

Well, considering we've got the internet at home, I've been neglecting my blog a bit! I managed to get on Skype to speak to my brother which is great, it's actually very clear, even better than on the phone...I also got a webcam, so we've been chatting and it's great that we can see each other too.

We had our friend Sean around for dinner on Thursday night as a thank you for letting us stay at his. Jason cooked some sweetcorn and tuna balls and then we had cannelloni....really yummy. He's actually been great with the cooking, most nights my dinner has been ready for me when I get home from work as I don't finish til after him. Last night we had tuna and tomato risotto and garlic bread, I could really get used to this ;o)

So, what else have I been up to...well, work is great, still really busy, learning lots everyday. I met up with Sue on Friday after work, I also invited a friend of Alex's (who I know from Munich) Dan has just arrived here on a 4 year work contract and doesn't know anyone, so Alex gave him my email address. We had a few drinks with him, then he left us to it. We ended up having a really fun night, not that I can remember much! we hadn't been out like that for a long time and it was great....so great, I didn't get home till 4am!!

Saturday I wasn't feeling the best, we popped to the shopping centre and then we had to come back home...I needed to lie down! We had a lazy afternoon and got out a dvd in the evening. Then yesterday we went shopping for a coffee table and some cushions....very domesticated!! The weather has been so bad that we haven't wanted to go out anyway, winter has come back and it's been really wet and windy.

I'm sat here writing this in the luxury of my own home...yes, we finally got broadband!!! We got the modem in the post today, and we set it up straight away...easy peasy!

It's been a really busy day at work, I'm trying to suss out paying the invoices, it's really complicated cos they get split between about a million cost centres, and I have to work out all the amounts...it's a real stresser, but I'm slowly getting there, I'm lucky in that I can still contact Roxanne (my predecessor) and she can help me out.

I went for some more acupuncture tonight, it was ok, apart from there was a woman in the next bed moaning and shouting to see a doctor, in all the fuss they forgot about me and I had the needles in too long (not sure if that matters, but it made me feel a bit queezy!) anyway, no harm done.

I'm now going to try and log onto Skype in the hope of chatting to my brother. We hardly ever speak cos the phone costs are so astronomical....so fingers crossed!

It's the 2nd day of spring today and it's boiling, 28 degrees! Typically for here there wasn't the gradual change of seasons...it just goes full on from one day being a cold winter day, to the next day spring (well, feels like summer!) it's pretty mad.

It's been another very busy week. I had my first full week at work and I must say I did really enjoy it. There is so much to learn, but it's a real challenge and I really thrive on that. The people are really nice, and my boss is great to work for (well, so far anyway!). The days are flying by because I'm so busy, I'm not used to that at all.

The flat is great, it's really feeling like home now. We finally got the landlord to send a pest control guy around last Thursday, he put some gel down to get rid of the cockroaches...so far so good, touch wood, it's been ok. We do still have a few ants, but he suggested to put some lemon oil down, so I bought some today.

We had a few friends around for drinks last night, we have decided just to invite a few people at a time to keep it quietish, Linn and Martin are going on holiday soon, so them and Neill were the first on our list. It was a really nice night, was great to be able to entertain when and who we wanted, it's so good living on our own.

Today I came into town, I've been having trouble with my lower back for a few months now, I had an xray, but nothing showed up, so the doctor suggested acupuncture. I was a bit dubious at first, I really hate needles, they always make me go a bit queezy, but I went on Wednesday after work. It didn't hurt at all, I had about 6 needles, 4 in my back and 2 in the backs of my knees, but it was the thought that made me feel funny. It took about 20 mins for me to feel ok after. Anyway, back to today, I was supposed to go back today, but I got there and they said you have to pay $70 as it's a Saturday, so I said I'd go back next week. My back does feel a little better, but it's still aching....Jason keeps telling me off for bending over without bending my knees...oops! So instead of going to the doctors, I went shopping and bought lots of Cds and some sunglasses. I haven't spent any money on myself for ages, so thought I deserved it as I got a new job. Now though we have to buckle our belts and start saving for our wedding.

I'm soooo knackered! This last week has been so busy, what with moving flat and starting a new job. I must first correct myself regarding my new job title...I'm actually a Senior Product Administrator (scary sounding!) I had 2 days handover with the girl that's leaving on Thursday and Friday and my brain feels like it's going to explode!! There is so much information to learn, I'm a bit worried that I won't be able to do it all, but I guess that's the same whenever you start a new job. The team are really nice, they are all really young and good fun, which is different from working for a government company. I had 2 lunches already, they had a PA lunch on Thursday and a leaving lunch for Roxanne on Friday, so I got to meet some more people. I'm a bit worried about going in tomorrow as I'll be on my own...scary stuff!

We've had a busy weekend too, yesterday we caught the bus to Palm beach for a friends birthday and leaving do, we had a bbq and then went to the pub for a bit. Today we've got more of the flat cleaned up and it's looking pretty good now. We've just got back from shopping now with some more essentials, so hopefully we'll get a nice relaxing evening with a dvd (I haven't had one of those for ages!!)

Here are some pics from the flat

The kitchen

Main bedroom

Spare room

Lounge

Balcony

Our pool!

I finally got offered a job yesterday! It's a 12 month contract, but it's great as I get all the perks of a permanent job (holidays, sick pay etc). It was all a bit last minute, I was supposed to finish at Sydney Water on Friday, but they desperately needed someoneto start tomorrow as the girl is leaving for her maternity leave. I felt a bit bad leaving early, but I have to do it and they understood...so I start my new job tomorrow. I'll be a PA for one of the heads of department at a company called Clearview (financial services). I'm a bit nervous, but that's normal and I'm so used to starting new jobs. So it seems finally everything is coming together at long last!

Some more good news, my Mum has booked her flight over in Feb next year ;o)

It's been a very busy weekend, but we've finally moved into our new flat! We were given the keys on Friday night which was great as we managed to get most of my stuff moved from Seans. We had quite a late night, and up again very early on Saturday. First priority was to get a fridge and a washing machine and a bed too, looking back now, it was silly to go shopping for stuff actually on the day, but really that was the only chance we had due to opening hours and also we wanted to save on delivery costs by using the van. Eventually, we got the bits we needed, we got a really good deal on a new bed too which was great. Jason's friend Rod helped him move the furniture while I stayed at the flat to clean and sort all the stuff out...not an easy task. We didn't stop until about 6pm, I had to go to the shops to pick up some more bits too. Then we had to drive to Jason's work to drop the van off, by the time we got back it was about 8pm so we decided to get some food at a restaurant (looking like tramps, but we didn't care!) When we got home, first thing I saw in the kitchen was a load of ants and a few cockroaches not what I wanted to go home to, I started going a bit mad, well I wanted it all to be perfect! I had seen a few cockroaches on the previous night which had got me a bit worried, especially as it isn't even summer yet. Anyway, Jason managed to calm me down...that was until we wanted to have a shower. Jason went first and came out saying the water was a bit cold...he'd only been in there 5 mins...so I had to have a cold shower....not happy about that! so that started me off again. I thought it might be better the next day, but I'd got half way through washing my hair and it went cold again. We did check the water tank, which is really tiny, so now I'm worried thats all the hot water we will get, there is no way that 2 people can live there with that tiny amount of water, anyway, back to that later. So I managed to calm down again, but had a fitful sleep (not the fault of our new bed..it's so comfy!) I was just waking up worrying about all the things going wrong (there is also no water coming out of the hot tap in the bathroom sink) I even went into the kitchen a few times to see what the bug situation was!

Anyway, Sunday we got up and sorted the lounge out into a reasonable order so it actuallylooks liveable now, we got the kitchen up together too, but we put all the boxes into the spare room, so that looks like a bomb has hit it..I think we will tackle that tonight. Our bedroom looks great, especially with the new bed, I have a whole wall of wardrobe all to myself...that's my favourite bit (Jason has got the wardrobe in the other room) I have spread all my stuff around and bought about 40 coathangers so I can now hang up all my clothes, which is great cos before we moved most of my stuff was folded which made me forget I had them!

In the afternoon, we went to the shopping mall to pick up some more things we needed, including loading up with cockroach and ant traps!! We spent an absolute fortune,and we still haven't got any food in our nice new (well, 2nd hand) big fridge. That is to be done tonight. So apart from the obvious problems, I really like it there so far, it's looking really nice and I've only seen one cockroach since we've sprayed the place. I have phoned the estate agent today and gave him the long list of problems, so hopefully he'll get back to me with some good news!Tonight we're going shopping to stock up the cupboards, I haven't been eating properly for ages, it's a bit difficult when you're living at someone elses house..so I'm looking forward to eating some healthy food again.

We've bought a laptop...yaay! so when we get the broadband set up I'll be able to chat to everyone more, can't wait! Only 3 more nights til we move into our flat, it's going to be so great. I can't believe I'm still in Sydney and I'm leasing a new flat, you just never know what's going to happen in life.
There was a massive hail storm yesterday afternoon. I'd just got out of work and the heavens openened, I had to wait around for ages otherwise I think I would have been injured! I had to go to another recruitment agency to sign up, I tell you most of them are pretty useless,they say they have loads of jobs, yet when you register all of a sudden things have dried up, maybe I'm just gullible! I had to do a few more skills tests, which I've done before, but they're a bit old. My typing was good and my word was advanced (which I can't believe) but my powerpoint was pretty rusty, I think I need to do another course. Mind you, I'm used to using Windows XP, most of these agency tests are on 2000, which is really very old and things are slightly different... not that I'm making excuses! I didn't finish till late and afterwards I felt like my head was going to explode...I've got so much on my mind now, my phone is constantly beeping with reminders of stuff to do, I will be glad when we've moved and I can concentrate properly on finding a job.

We had another busy weekend. Saturday was spent driving to different shopping centres to buy stuff for our new flat. We wanted to buy a new bed, so we went to IKEA, but there weren't any decent mattresses there, I think we need to spend a bit more money on something decent. We did buy some throws for the couch and some saucepans, and a kettle and toaster....not very important, but you have to start somewhere! We have to look for a fridge and a washing machine too, but we can't buy anything til Saturday as we only have the van then. It's all costing a fortune, luckily I had that tax cheque and some savings. But after all this, I have to pay loads for my New Zealand residency too. I've got my medical on Friday, thats $500!

So after Saturday, I didn't feel much like going out, but we did go and meet Linn and Martin, it was supposed to be a quiet drink, but we ended up staying out til 3.30! I still don't feel right now...not good! On Sunday we went to Bondi to meet Sue and a couple of other friends who'd done the Sydney City to Surf run. It's a 14km run, and I think over 60,000 people did it this year. Bondi was full of people. We had a couple of drinks at the pub there, then Jason and I went back to Coogee to meet Paul, who is back from China for a couple of weeks. I really didn't feel like going out, but I had to show my face. I stayed about an hour, then went back to Seans to veg in front of the TV, I'd been dying to do that all day!

So we got our application accepted for the flat last night...yippee! But I'm not going to get too excited until we've signed the lease, don't want to tempt fate! If everything goes to plan, we can move in Aug 19th. Hopefully Sean won't mind us staying at his for an extra week...he's due back tomorrow, so we'll see. I'm really pleased about the flat, it's got 2 bedrooms, with huge built in wardrobes in both of them (that sold it for me!) it has a balcony, which unfortunately faces south instead of north, so we won't get the sun in the evening...but to be honest, it gets so hot in summer anyway it'll probably be a relief! There is even a pool in the complex, a small one mind, but nevertheless a pool. We're very happy people now ;o)

I had a laugh last night, I had to go to the police station to get one of my police checks for my New Zealand residency. First off I filled out the form, when I sat down one of the policeman said to me 'you're not that young'...I'd written 30.6.2006 for my date of birth!! Then I had to go through and get my fingerprints done, not as I expected with ink, but on this digital machine. It was pretty cool actually, but not very easy to use, the policeman said that it's even worse when you've got really drunk people trying to fight you whilst you're trying to get their fingerprints....I can well imagine! It took ages to do all the prints. The last prints were of my palms, he was taking the mickey out of me cos I couldn't get my palms flat on the machine and there was a big white gap in the middle of my hand print. We had to do it a few times, as the machine wouldn't accept them, in the end he had to really push my hand down as far as it would go so it would be flat, it was quite painful actually! I asked him if that was normal for that to happen....he said no...he thought it was very funny, so I've got abnormal hands!

Another busy weekend of flat hunting. Friday I left work early to see a couple of flats, including one that Jason had seen the previous night. Jason was supposed to pick me up from work and we would go and see them together, but he was stuck in traffic so I had to get a taxi, which was a nightmare in itself. It was absolutely throwing it down with rain, and it took me 20 mins to get a taxi, by this time I was soaking wet! Anyway, I went to the first flat, but it wasn't that nice. I was hoping to see the other flat that Jason had seen afterwards, but the agent couldn't get us an appointment. I did get a bit worried as that flat was due for an open inspection the following day, and even though I hadn't seen it I thought we should get our applications in for it straight away so we didn't miss out. We got our applications in, hopefully there aren't any problems with it, the only worry I have is that my job is only temporary, but we'll see. So after that I was supposed to come back to the city to meet some people who I worked with last year, they were having drinks for Phil who is going away to get married. But by the time we'd done all our stuff I was still wet and I just couldn't be bothered to go out again. We dropped by Rach and Stu's for a bit, then I went back to the flat and Jason went to see the Strokes.

Saturday we looked at about 10 flats, luckily I managed to see the one we'd applied for and it is really nice, I hope we get it. The rest were really awful, I don't know how these people charge so much money for these places, they are so not worth it. Most places in Coogee are really old too, you don't get many modern kitchens and bathrooms here. It wasn't the best day, we were both really stressed, you literally have about 5 mins in between each viewing, luckily we have a car otherwise it would be impossible. In the evening we went around to Rach and Stu's for a bit, then onto a bar in Coogee. Yesterday we went to the shopping mall (to look at puppies) I don't know why we do it to ourselves, we can't get one yet!! there were loads of them, bless them, I feel so sorry for them in those little cages.

Last night we went to the city to meet Jason's auntie and uncle who were over from New Zealand. We went to the Rocks for a drink and some dinner, it was really nice. We ended up eating at the Loewenbraeu bier keller, it was very authentic, like home from home! I ate Kaese spaetzle (bit like macaroni cheese) it was nice, but no way near as good as the one's I've eaten in Munich or the one I had recently in Vienna.

So that's about it. Work is a lot busier which is good, mind you if I'd been busy before I wouldn't have been able to do all this searching for flats and jobs on the internet!! I actually have been offered a permanent position by one of the Managers downstairs, it sounds like a good job - Office Manager - but I'm really not sure about working for a government company again, it's what I was trying to get out of, I want to work for a young company with a bit more of a social and fun scene, and people around my age, so I'm not sure. I have been offered a few more interviews from other applications too, two of the roles are at a magazine publishing company, the one that publishes Australian Vogue and all the big magazines out here, so I'm quite interested in that, but the money isn't as good. Normally that wouldn't bother me so much if it was a good company, but now I need to save as much as I can for weddings, house deposits etc etc, so I'm not sure!

I dragged Jason along to a Buddhism and meditation course on Monday night. It was actually very interesting. It was all a bit profound, trying to understand the subject on Practical Patience was a bit hard to get your head around, I won't even try to explain it! she also talked a lot about Karma. I think I will definitely go back again, plus we did a couple of meditations and I had the best sleep ever!!

Things are still really busy, I've been looking for a permanent job, plus looking for a flat, not really a good idea to do both at the same time, but unfortunately I have no choice! I've registered at a few new agencies, but nothing interesting has come up yet, I'm starting to worry I might not get anything and will have to continue temping. As for the flat hunting, Jason has looked at a couple this week, it's so difficult to see these places as they mostly just show them in the day or late afternoon, so I can't go. We have a couple more tomorrow, and some on Saturday too, so hopefully something decent will come up. I hope we didn't make the wrong decision in not taking that other flat from last week!

I'm so loving staying at Sean's, it really has made such a difference just living on our own...I actually look forward to going home now.... no more sharing flats for me!!

I didn't really have the best weekend. I had a huge row with my flatmate on Friday night, she has been driving me crazy since I've lived there. I haven't mentioned it before cos she is going out with my friend (but now I don't care!) Basically what started off as me just asking if she could use her key and not always buzz on the door when she gets home (I'm trying to be assertive)turned into a big argument when for some reason she started having a go at me, she said some really nasty things to me and also about me to Jason, she really was below the belt. She really upset me. So anyway I moved all my stuff out on Saturday morning, it was a bit like a prison escape, we got up early cos I didn't want to see her!! Luckily a friend of ours has just gone away for 10 days, so he said I could stay there until we get a flat sorted out. I'm still in a bit of shock about it all, I can't believe she was so horrible, but to be honest, I'm so glad to be out of there, she makes mine and Jason's life hell, she's so miserable. It was so great to have a flat to ourselves over the weekend, it feels a bit weird at the moment, but it's really nice.
So on Saturday after that debacle Jason and I went flat hunting. We looked at about 8 properties, only 2 of those were ok, but still not perfect. Some of the places were such dumps, we realised we'd have to put our budget up a little bit to get somewhere half decent! We've applied for one of them, and they have offered it to us, but now I'm not so sure as there isn't much storage space...and you have to go through the bedroom to get to the bathroom...not so good if we have people to stay. We're still looking anyway.

Here are a couple of pics of the cavoodle

I know I keep going on about time, but really, I can't believe it's Thursday already, time seems to be going exceptionally fast since I've been back at work...and it's not because I'm having fun, that's for sure!! It's been a pretty busy week, I've been trying to sort out things for my residency application to New Zealand and also trying to look for flats (we've only got 2 weeks to find somewhere decent and I'm a bit worried). Tuesday night we went around to Sean's for dinner and did a photo slide show of our holiday pics...I hope we didn't bore him too much! Today I went out for lunch with my old work colleagues from another department, it was nice to finally catch up with them again. Tonight we've got a flat viewing, it looks really nice on the internet, it's a little bit more than we want to pay, but it's either that or moving somewhere not so nice. We'll see. I'm thinking about getting a kitten if we're allowed pets...we both really want to get a puppy, but we're both working and unless we get a garden at our new flat, it wouldn't really be fair on it. I've seen so many cute ones at the pet shop, it kills me to leave them there. We like the designer crosses, like cavoodles and beagliers, our immigration agent has just bought a cavoodle, Jason showed me some pics he took with his phone when he went around the other day...it was sooo cute ;o)

I can't believe another weekend has passed us by...where do they go?! I should try not doinganything one weekend and maybe it'll go a bit slower! As it was, this weekend was quite busy. I met up for a night with the girls on Friday after work. We went to a pub at the Rocks first, then we walked up the road to the Shangri-La hotel. I've been wanting to go there for such a long time, but this was only the first opportunity to go. It didn't disappoint either, the bar is on the 36th floor, and the hotel is right on the harbour, so there are some fabulous views, it really is a cool place to go for a drink...and it has to be just for one drink cos it's so bloomin expensive! The cocktails cost about $25, I just stuck with a glass of wine, which I could have bought a bottle for the same price, but who's complaining, it was well worth it for the view! So, as I said, we had one drink there, then we jumped in a taxi and headed to Surry Hills to Hollywood, then to another pub for some live music and a boogie. It was such a good night, there were 6 of us that came out, a couple of them I hadn't met before, but we all had a real laugh.

By the next day I'd managed to lose my voice, I guess I shouldn't have gone out drinking Friday cos I didn't feel that good, but I'd been looking forward to it all week, and it was worth losing my voice for! So, Saturday we had to get up early to see the tax man to do our tax returns. I thought I wouldn't be as lucky as I was last year, but I was, I got loads of $'s back, really happy about that, so it's going towards our wedding. Jason got a bit, but not as much as me ;o)

After that we did the usual shopping and cleaning and then Jason and I went out for dinner in the evening. We went to our local Mexican restaurant, the food was yummy. We saw one of the Big Brother evictees there, I've seen so many of them around about town, they pop up everywhere....apparently one from last year is working in a shop around the corner...being on Big Brother obviously brought her lots of opportunities...not!!! They are having lots of sex scandals too, 2 of the guys got evicted from the show a couple of weeks ago....now everyone is trying to ban it, even John Howard..funny! Anyway, back to Saturday...we went down to the Palace after dinner, but I tell you we were the oldest people in there, we felt like we were teachers chaperoning at a high school disco.... not good!!

Yesterday was a lovely day, so we went for a walk along the coast. The beaches were packed, it was very warm considering it's winter, it was nice to get some fresh air. I was busy taking lots of beach pics on my new phone, although I've no idea who's got a camera phone for me to send them to.

That's about it really...back to work today, my sore throat has turned into a cold now, but I'm feeling a lot better than I was.

I've just realised, it's a year ago since I went up to Cairns for my east coast trip....wow I can't believe that it was that long ago, where does the time go??!!
Not much going on this week, I was a bit sick on Tuesday, I had a funny spell at work, it must be this place, this is where I had the migraine when I worked here last year - perhaps I'm allergic to it!
My mobile phone died yesterday....absolutely gutted...it's not so much the phone that I'm worried about, it's that fact that I've lost everyone's phone numbers :-( I stupidly saved them to my phone and not the SIM, then even more stupidly didn't write the numbers in an address book...doh!! (So expect an email asking for your phone numbers!!!) Looks like the money I saved this week will have to go towards buying another phone, but I guess I can't complain, my one has lasted a good 3 or so years, about time for an upgrade.
On another note, I've found out that our passage to New Zealand will probably not be as easy as we anticipated. Apparently it can take up to 2 years to get my visa granted, so we have to start applying very soon. I have to get police certificates from UK, Aus and Germany (and get the German one translated)then we have to provide evidence on our relationship and I have to have a full medical (loads of money!) I don't want to go through all this again, we've only just got over applying for the last visa, what a nightmare!! Can't I just come back and live in England??!

Had a nice weekend. Jason and I went for a quiet drink on Friday night. Saturday we got some cleaning in the flat and washing done, very domesticated! In the evening we went into the city to meet Gemma and Garry, we hardly ever get a chance to catch up with them, so we had a fun night. We went to a few different bars, then Garry had to take Gemma home, so Jason and I went to the old favourite, Burdekin bar.
Yesterday had a nice lie in, then we went to see Click at the cinema. I would recommend seeing it if you can, it was a really good film, and suprisingly deep (for an Adam Sandler film!). It really made me think about my life (and made me blub too!). In the evening Jason met up with some friends for dinner and I stayed in and phoned my Mum and Chris for a catch up. I'm really happy, my Mum has said she'll probably come to visit in February next year, and my brother and Martina are thinking about coming over too...which would be great! It'll give me something
nice to look forward to. Actually Jason and I have come to the decision that we will only be in Australia for another year (so if you want to visit OZ, keep that in mind!). We are going to move to New Zealand next August and look for a house as you can get a really nice house there and it's lots cheaper. Well, that's the plan anyway!

I got my first wages today....yaay!! I'm so happy to be getting paid again, and the money is great, I've got the same for 3 days that I normally get for 5, so I can't wait until next week to get paid, I'll be loaded!! Work is going ok, it's not that exciting tho. I actually had a phone interview for a travel agency yesterday, I really want to try something a bit different careerwise, so I thought I'd apply. It was quite a funny interview, it's a really sales orientated role so it wasn't what I was used to. I had to do a role play with the interviewer, I had to chose to sell either a camera, a backpack, or some sunglasses....I chose the backpack and I did quite well, I guess cos I only bought one last year so I knew what questions to ask...I think she was quite impressed, she asked me back for another interview in person next week! I've been thinking about it though and I don't think I will pursue it, the basic wage is very very low, you have to earn on sales (which I've never done before) and also, you have to work 10-12 hour days and 2 weekends a month, so altoghether it's not really what I want, especially as Jason and I really need to save as much money as we can for weddings and the future. Oh well, maybe something else will come up soon.
Apart from that, the weekend was quite good, I met Sue on Friday night, then on Saturday we had a couple of birthday parties to go to. Sunday we went to see Pirates of the Carribbean 2, it was really good. I went for a run on Monday night with Jason...I'm still aching now, but I'm going to try and go again tonight. I have to get my Europe photos put online at some point too, I have loads of them, it's gonna take ages!!

I've just finished my first week back at work (well half a week!), it's the first job I've had in about 4 months, so I'm really tired. I'm still suffering a bit from
jet-lag too, I'm getting really sleepy from about 6pm every night, it's really hard for me to try and stay awake until bedtime...I've been going to bed at 9.30 most nights! Work is going ok, it's always a bit difficult doing someones job when you haven't had a proper handover, but so far so good. On Wednesday I even got 2 massages....they employed a company to come over and massage everyone's shoulders as it's the end of financial year (I'm in the finance dept) they were a bit painful though, I felt like I'd been bruised!
We managed to go out last night, a friend of ours had organised a launch night at a club, we were VIP guests, so we were treated to free drinks all night...not that I made the most of it, we left earlyish as we both had work today...I'm so well behaved!! It was a good night,it was at the same place I'd celebrated my birthday last week.
I'm meeting Sue tonight for a catch up, I'm sure we'll have lots to gossip about!! I'm quite chuffed as well, lots of people have been saying I've lost weight...I can't quite understand how, I always put on lots on holidays,especially when I go back home...can't complain tho!!

Another update....
On the Monday morning, Jason and I sad our sad goodbyes to Mum, Chris and Martina caught the boat up the Danube from Bratislava to Vienna. It was nice way to finish off our Slovakian trip!

it was a bit windy on the boat!!


Vienna was really hot too, we managed to lug all our bags to the hotel which was a lot of effort, then we walked to the Prater where we looked around the funfair and then hired a 2 person bike... for a ride around the park.


After that it was a shower and change then we walked to the city to find somewhere to watch the Australia v Italy match, we found a great big outdoor screen which was good..but we weren't impressed with the result of the match. Afterwards we walked around the city to find somewhere for dinner. It was great to look around...I've been to Vienna before, it still amazes me what a fantastic city it is, all the beautiful architecture is amazing, I really could live there if I had the choice. We had a great dinner, we went for the authentic Austrian food, Jason had Wiener Schnitzel and I had Kase Spatzle...yummmm!! We rolled back to the hotel...we were very full up!
Next day we were up early, we had a very cultured day. We walked around some of the historic buildings, then we went to the Vienna Arts and History museum for a couple of hours (I would definitely recommend the museum). In the evening we went to a Mozart and Strauss concert at Schoenbrunn Palace....



The recital was very good, we thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a storm brewing at the end of the second half, it was a mad storm...it added to the passion of the music!
Weds it was time to leave :-( We were up early to get to the airport...Jason had to practically drag me on the plane...I really didn't want to leave and was very upset. The trip back was ok, it seemed to go a bit quicker than on the way there. There was a few big bumps tho which was a bit scary. So we got home on Thursday afternoon absolutely shattered.
Friday was my birthday, I had a really lovely day, Jason really spoiled me, and took me out for lunch. In the evening, we went to Cherri jam, we had the best night, and it was nice to see Sue and everyone again, we had a good catch up. After the club we went to Rach and Stu's to watch a footie match they'd taped, we didn't get home until 6am, so Saturday was a bad day, didn't feel well at all, was in bed most of the day!! We managed to stay up until midnight on Saturday, then we walked to the pub to watch England's last football game (which I don't want to talk about!) Got back home about 4am, so another late night, again Sunday was a write off!
Yesterday was busy, speaking to agencies about work etc and sorting some bits out. I've got a job today, I start tomorrow, just for 2 months to get me back into the swing of things, but the pay is great. It's at Sydney Water again, so it's a bit familiar to me.

This is the first chance I’ve had to update my blog since last week, things have been really mad!

I’ll start with the Wedding…

Last Friday morning, Chris, Martina, Mum, Jason and I drove to Martina’s parents house in Komarno, which is an hour from Bratislava. We had lunch there and Martina finished a few bits and pieces, then we left for Palarikovo to the place of the wedding. It was nice to see Martina’s parents again, although we cannot communicate very well as they don’t speak English…but we managed as best we could. When I saw the place where the wedding was to be held I thought wow, this is going to be cool, it was a huge hunting lodge, which looks more like a palace or something similar, and inside, the bedrooms were so huge it was unbelievable. We managed to get unpacked and sort out some things, then everyone that had travelled from Germany and England arrived on the coach. It was great to see them all again, it was a bit hard to chat with everyone though as they all arrived at the same time. It was so nice to see some family whom I haven’t seen for a few years. Most people went to find their rooms and then we all met up in the evening for dinner. I managed to do a lot of my catching up then, so it was cool. After a few drinks, I managed to persuade Martina that she should really go to bed so she wasn’t knackered for the next day, as I was her bridesmaid, it was my job to boss her around and make sure she was ok. So we got an earlyish night (I was staying in the wedding suite with her, as of course her and Chris were not allowed to see each other in the morning).

Saturday morning we woke about 7am because of the church bells and all the excitement. It was a busy morning running around making sure some last minute things were done, and of course most importantly, getting ready. I was really impressed with Martina, she managed to stay really calm and didn’t really panic at all, she held herself together better than I did! It was an absolutely scorching day, so we did get a bit hot and bothered trying to get Martina’s dress on, and then mine after that, but we got there in the end! Seeing Martina in her dress and all her veil made me choke, she looked so beautiful, a really stunning bride. I had to leave a bit earlier than her with Chris and Mum (who both looked amazing) in the car, this was the point I started to get really emotional, it didn’t help that my dress was so tight, I could hardly breathe, so I started hyper-ventilating in the car…..Mum managed to sort me out tho and calm me down a bit luckily!! (I do get very emotional!!) When we arrived at the church, Chris, Gary (the best man) and I had to stand at the front of the church, again, I started crying, I looked over at Mum and my aunties and started all them off too, it was a bit like a chain reaction (god, I don’t know what I’m going to be like at my own wedding!!) and there were loads of cameras and a video camera there, so I’m dreading seeing that footage. Anyway, Martina arrived shortly after with her Dad, everyone was in awe seeing her come down the aisle (especially my brother!!). The ceremony was pretty short, even considering it was all being translated (badly) into English (the translator guy is another story!). After the ceremony, Gary and I signed the book as we were both witnesses, then we all went outside to wait for the bride and groom. In Slovakia it is a tradition that guests bring the bride flowers, so when they were congratulating them, Martina accepted all the flowers (I’m not sure what happened to them after).
We went back to the hunting lodge after where the pictures were taken and then a few toasts, then it was off to the reception. The room was decorated beautifully, they really did an amazing job, I think everyone was impressed. First off, Gary did his best man speech, which unfortunately went on for ages because of the translation, I felt really sorry for him, but he managed to get through it. He also said some really nice words about Dad, which made us all emotional. Then it was time for the food, and my god, there was lots of it! I think over the whole night, there were seven courses, and the portions were absolutely massive, we had 4 or so meals that were like main courses, and tons of cakes too. Another tradition is that the Slovakians bring cakes to the wedding, these weren’t even touched, but put on table for everyone to see, they were beautifully made cakes. I was actually quite relieved my dress was so tight, it meant that I couldn’t actually eat much at all, I think otherwise I might have been sick from eating so much food! In the midst of all this food, Chris said his speech, Martina ended up translating in the end (otherwise he may have been there all night too) and it worked out really well like that, it was a lovely speech, and funny. Chris and Martina gave me a lovely necklace for being the bridesmaid and some flowers to our Mums etc.
After all the formalities had taken place, it was time for the real party! Chris and Martina had their first dance, then Chris also had a dance with the flower girl, who was such a sweet girl, it was hilarious, he was picking her up and throwing her around the dance floor, very amusing! Then we all joined in the dancing, trouble was it was so hot in the room, noone really lasted for too long….most people had to go outside and risk getting eaten alive by all the mossies! Later on during another meal (I think this one was about 1am) there was another tradition….a group of folk singers came into the room up to the top table. First off they had to ask Martina’s Dad if he would give her away to Chris, they asked him 3 times (he had to say no twice, then yes the third time), then they asked my Mum the same about giving Chris to Martina, then when she said yes on the third question, everyone was really happy. We went to the dance floor after that for the next tradition. Chris and Martina had to sit down opposite each other, then they took Martinas veil off and put some funny hats on them and then drink some boravichka (?) a Slovakian shot and the folk singers sung some more (not sure what about) then everyone stood up, then all the guys had to put some money into the hat to be able to dance with Martina. After ages, and lots of dances, Chris in the end put his whole wallet in the hat to buy Martina back, I think it was after that that he took off her garter with his teeth! It was a really nice tradition, it was so interesting to watch all these differences in cultures.
The whole night was great fun, we were in and out of the house, we did lots of dancing too. Even Mum was up for a great night, I've never seen her have so much fun!! When we were outside later on, the video guys came around and asked us all to say something to the bride and groom. I won't say what I said, but it ended up in a singing session with Andy (I'm dreading seeing the dvd!!)
I think thats about all I can remember for now. We had a fantastic day, and I'm so happy for Chris and Martina, I know they'll be truly happy together.
Next day we travelled back to Bratislava (having to say goodbye to most of my Munich friends :-( ) We had a bit of a party at the flat in the evening, a few of the guys came back to watch the England game, then I was given an early birthday cake from my family which was sweet. Having to say goodbye to them all was so hard, especially after such a great holiday, I'm really going to miss them all. Chris was so great, it was really nice to spend so much time with him, as he was in Munich with us too ;o)
Next installment is Vienna, I'll write that up soon....

Here's just a few piccies of the wedding

The bride and groom


Jason and I


Chris, Mum and Martina


Me and Chris