Budapest

Greetings all from Hungary.

We spent today sleepings in a little, and then we got on the metro to find the Christmas market. It was fantastic to be wandering around looking at the beautiful handcrafts etc. Bought a few things. Scott bought me a pair of lovely earrings, made of blue glass.

Tomorrow we will be at my uncle's house with all of my cousins. I am really looking forward to it. I love being in hungary. It has such a different atmosphere from London. Less crowded and manic, and easier to breathe in.

Love to everyone. Hope you have a great Xmas and new year!!

xxx

Way too long

Well, a lot has been happening, and not much at the same time, if that makes sense.

Again, I have been neglecting this journal.

I really wanted to update to tell you all about my weekend last weekend. We had the Paranormal Society in the museum. They arrived at 11pm. There were three Visitor Assistants working, myself, John and Martin, as well as two duty managers. We split into three groups with one VA per group. We did a wander around the museum with all of them. They took temperatures and electro magnetic radiation levels, as base lines for future reference. Then the three groups went their separate ways. I was supervising a group of three, two men and a woman. All the lights were off in the galleries, so we all had to carry torches around with us. The museum seemed like a completely different place without the normal lights on, without the normal visual signals I get when I am wandering about the place. I had been asked if I felt strange wandering about the galleries after what I saw etc but because the galleries were so dark it honestly felt like a completely different building.

I took the group to a section of the second floor that is quite open, at their request. They set up their video cameras etc. The woman in the group claimed she heard a scream from an old set of stairs we have hidden. They then all sat in a circle, with me about 10 metres away just watching, and tried to "contact" the spirits. A few minutes passed and they all kind of moved, then the video camera display flicked off, then Karen started yelling in this really deep voice. She was yelling "murder" and "murder me". It completely freaked me out as I had no idea what would happen, or that this woman had the tendency to get "possessed" by spirits!! Sitting in the dark and hearing screaming coming from a petite woman is rather unnerving. I told the others on the museum staff of my experience, so the next time the groups went, I suddenly had all the media people following my group. Made me feel much better really.

The second session we went to the 1st floor in our new study centre. We have a green skiff in there, and Karen obviously picked up someone again. This time she "became" Sid, a 47 year old man, who again was angry. He said that his friends were laughing at us, and warned of another spirit who was nasty. Every spirit that appeared that night seemed to be really angry. The angry ones obviously stick around, while the content ones move on! Karen also saw a prostitute by the name of Harriet in the study centre as well.

The third floor yielded Harold, who was by far the most nasty. All sitting around in a circle, holding hands, they tried to contact the spirits again. I was in the circle this time. Everyone else was talking about how cold they felt, but I felt nothing. Karen then suddenly moved out of the circle, as if she were being pulled by her ankles by a rope. Quite strange to see, but I was becoming very skeptical by this time of the night (morning!!). Harold kept yelling that he wouldn't harm Karen. The next session Karen decided she wanted to face Harold again, so everyone this time went up to the third floor to see if they could talk to Harold. I sat this one out, along with Martin and John and the media people. Harold appeared again, and this time Karen went all stiff and fell over, only being held up by the people next to her.

The whole experience has not made me believe or not believe any more than I did before. I admit that by the end of the evening, after I had seen this woman be "possessed" not once, but four times, it became quite old news. The first time freaked me out, then it just became funny really. I believe that there may indeed be spirits etc floating out there, and if that is the case, I believe that they want to be left alone!!

The highlight of my night was crawling into my sleeping bag in the soft play area of the children's gallery and going to sleep for a few hours.

Otherwise, I am still enjoying work. We had our Christmas party today, which was held in the Guildhall, a lovely building in the City of London. There were about 1000 people there from all different sectors. My workmates are really delightful and I have made some good friends. They succeeded in keeping me amused for the entire party, which was great. And it was certainly something to be able to eat lunch in a 15th century building! And all for a tenner!! :-)

I am really looking forward to going to Hungary. We fly out on Friday morning. We decided to stay in a cheap hotel near Heathrow the night before to save stress and a lot of time, seeing as though we have to be at the airport at 6.30am!! We are living in east London and to get to west London for that hour would be quite crazy. We have 10 days or so in Budapest. We would both like to get out of Budapest for a couple of day trips. I will ask my family what they recommend we do. We will be spending Christmas in Budapest. I have no idea what Hungarians do for Christmas, but I am looking forward to finding out!

I met up with an old school friend this morning before my Xmas party. Oiwei and I went to PLC together, and I last saw her at the school reunion we had in 2002. She is over in Baltimore studying for her PhD. She is over in London for a few days with her man. It was so nice to see her, even if it was brief! I showed them Westminster Abbey (from the outside anyway), the Embankment, and along the Thames. We will meet them tomorrow night for a curry in Brick Lane perhaps. Not sure what time Scott will join us as he is doing a lot of overtime before we go away.

I hope I have covered everything. :-)

Merry Christmas everybody. Love and hugs to you all!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

December

I cannot believe that it is December already. We are now 7 days into the month, and this is my first journal entry. Slack really. It's not as if nothing has really happened in my life, I think it's just finding the time to sit down and actually type it all in.

I was asked yesterday to do an all-nighter at the museum. We have some paranormal society coming in from 10.30pm til 5.30am. So I shall be earning a little extra money and watching strange people do weird things all night!! They are coming in to see if they can pick up any "vibes" from dead people I think. They will have mediums and see what they come up with!! We will be wandering around with small groups, basically supervising them so they don't decide to climb on things that they are not allowed to. I was discussing it yesterday with another guy who will also be working. We were trying to figure out what the potential items will be that they find "vibes" on/from. We have items from people who were lost in a shipping disaster called the Princess Alice, so that's a potential. We also have items from the Blitz. And a table to do with the slave trade. So should be interesting to see what they pick up, if anything.....

I will think of other things to tell you all later. Right now I must away, as I am due back from my break.....

XX

Long time coming

I feel like I have been neglecting this journal a little bit lately. There is no excuse of course.

I love having broadband. I am currently listening to the radio on the internet! I am listening to a classic rock show on Virgin radio that Alice Cooper hosts. Scott had mentioned it the other day, saying that he thought it was on digital radio, but it is obviously also on the internet! Excellent. :-) So many radio stations have an internet listening facility to them that we do not need to listen to the normal radio.

We did a little bit of random tourism on the weekend. We stayed in bed til late on Saturday, then went to Lewisham train station to see where we could go. I chose to go to Gravesend, as there was a train in the next 15mins. Gravesend used to be a holiday destination in the Victorian times. People used to take day trips down the Thames on steamships to Gravesend and to Margate, which is closer to the mouth of the Thames. It is a quaint little historic town, well, perhaps not small, but a nice place to visit. We dida bit of a heritage walk around, following one of the guides we picked up at the tourist info place. Very interesting. Saw world's only remaining iron pier. I love seeing things that are the"world's only" or the "world's biggest" or whatever. Makes me feel connected to the rest of the planet.

We stayed the night and came back Sunday afternoon. I was beginning to fade, and by which time I thinkI had passed on my cold to Scott. But I enjoyed myself, and think I would like to go back there, but perhaps in summer!!

I called in sick to work today. So did Scott. Spent most of the day on or on bed, sleeping or knitting. Much needed. And an early night tonight too and I should be all good. Giulia from work rang me and left a message wonderinghow I was. She is so lovely. We are going to Giulia's house tomorrow night as she will be trying out some shiatsu massage on Scott's sore back. I have made some quite close friends at work,for which I am grateful.

There are plans for us to move in with Alison from work early next year. We feel we have no room to move in our current place, and I think Alison would make a nice house mate. We get on well, as do she and Scott which is great. We just have to figure out what we can afford. I will keep you posted!!

xxx

Lovely collegues

I was feeling a little down at work on Tuesday. But I was cheered up by Alison, Martin and Giulia. I think it was a combination of over-tiredness, loneliness with Scott doing so much overtime lately and the weather. But I was really touched when I was not only cheered up by them, but I was given a small token from them each to cheer me up. I received two packets of sweets and a Body Shop lip gloss. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside....

:-)

Old school peoples

As the title suggests, I have had contact with old school friends lately. Yesterday I went out to dinner with two girls I went to school with at my school in Brisbane. We had a lovely night, ending up having dinner in China Town. I was able to show Ayesha, who had been in London all of 48 hours, Piccadilly Circus (you seriously need sunglasses for that one even in the daylight!!) and of course China Town. It's funny how some things change and others don't. I haven't seen Ayesha for at least three years now, but we still had plenty to talk about, which is nice.

The other contact was I received an email from my school in Melbourne about signing up for the alumni website. So I did, and I saw the "diary entry" of one of my old old school friends. I think I shall email her. At school she was Belinda Gan, but now she is Belinda Jolly. She was always so lovely. :-)

Work is going well. The Christmas party this year will be held at the Guildhall in London. I know it is early to be tlaking about Christmas, but I had to mention it because they are not sure I will be able to go. As I am a temp,and not technically an employee of the museum, I should not be able to go. But my boss will try and wangle it. I will have been there 6 months by the time the party comes around, so I think I will feel a little miffed if I don't get to go!! And it's also in such a lovely building that I will probably never see the inside of again!!

I am a law widow again tonight. *Sigh*

Ooooh!! I almost forgot!! Scott and I are going to Sweden for the weekend on the 20th January. It is going to be sooooooooo cold, but I am really looking forward to it. We have not done Sweden yet. And the place we are going to, Malmo, is literally a 20 minute train ride from Copenhagen, so the plan is to have a day in each place.

:-)

Guy Fawkes Day

It was Guy Fawkes Day on Saturday, which means lots and lots and lots of fireworks. In fact I watched fireworks three nights in a row! Thursday night there was a display on near my work. Friday night there was a huge display near our house, and all I had to do was stand in my street with my warm coat on and I felt like I had a private display! And Saturday night I met Scott in Greenwich. We were joined there by Donald, Clare and Tim from my work, and Clare's hubby Robert. We traipsed up to the top of the hill, to Black Heath, to watch the fireworks. Fab fireworks, and the best bit is that we could see about 6 other displays in the distance as well! Fireworks are legal over here, so there are plenty of people (still) lighting them up.

Day off

I had a lovely day today. I decided I would go and visit the Bank of England Museum. It is only open Mondays to Fridays - bank hours suprisingly!! ;-) I really enjoyed it. There was a lot of information about the history of the Bank, which only became a public institution in 1946 (it opened in 1694). I enjoyed reading about the history of the bank note, which developed from the goldsmiths in London who were the original bankers.

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/education/museum/

After that I wandered to the Museum of London to have a brief look there too. I wandered around and had a look in the shop. Scott was looking for something specific to send home, and I found it there. But he will go and buy it another time. I saw one of the managers there who I know, Diana. She is a lovely person, and was very very drunk at the wedding we went to at the beginning of October!! Anyway, it was close to closing time, but she whicked me off downstairs to show me the new exhibition by three black photographers. Some amazing photos. :-)

Tonight I am a law widow again, as Scott is doing overtime. No idea when I shall see him either. :-( Early to bed methinks!

A loss to the Archaeological Community

I found out this morning that one of my lovely lecturers from uni died a couple of weeks ago. Dr Tom Loy was a lecturer at the University of Queensland, and his speciality was blood residues on stone tools and the Ice Man, Oetzi. Apparently the newspapers at home are saying that he had a blood condition that he found out about some 12 years ago, soon after he started his association with Oetzi. So of course there is talk of a curse on the Ice Man, as Tom is the seventh person to die who has been closely associated with Oetzi. Personally, I don't believe there is a curse. I believe Tom's death was just an accident or whatever, I am not superstitious enough to associate it with the "curse of the mummy". I am sad that he has died, for he was truly a wonderful scientist, a dedicated teacher, and a genuinely nice guy.

Tom, wherever you are, I hope that you and Oetzi are having a good old chat, and that you are finally solving the mystery.

A trial photo posting

This is Scott and I at the wedding we went to three weekends ago.

One Year

Well, as the title suggests, we left Australia exactly one year ago today. It is hard to imagine in some ways. I have really enjoyed my year over here. I am not ready to go home by any means. I am enjoying London, even though I am being driven insane by my house mates, but that's a story for another day. There is so much to see in London. So much to do. I have not done it all in a year. I do like the fact that we kind of lead parallel existences in a sense - we are workers during the week, and tourists on the weekends! If that makes sense. Not a lot of people are able to be tourists in the city they live in, or necessarily want to of course! But we enjoy going out to see different things. Which reminds me, I think we need to go back to the theatre, we have not been in a while!

Scott is not liking his job as much as he thought he would. But, I just keep telling him to think of the money and the experience. I think he is realising that he does not really like lawyers. :-) Oh well! His heart really does lie in politics.

I am getting over my cold. I went to the doctor on Tuesday just to get a prescription. He checked me out when I was there, and said I was fine. Nice to know. It's also nice to know I have found a really nice, and thorough, doctor. Hard to come by these days!! He even checked my technique I use when I use my asthma inhaler. Never had that before!!

We are having drinks tomorrow night. We decided on a great old pub in Greenwich. So any of you reading this who would like to come, let me know and I shall tell you which one..... :-)

There was a wonderfully thick fog covering London yesterday morning. I could hardly see anything from the DLR train. And the buildings Canary Wharf all but disappeared into the fog.

Other than that, nothing is really exciting. Work, sleep, fighting off a cold. :-)

How is everyone?

I had my first real live Skype conversation today. I bought a microphone today in Oxford Street, and I wanted to try it before I spoke to mum. So I called Melissa. And it worked very nicely.It dropped out a little, but for practically nothing that you pay for the phone call, it's great. So, if any of you out there are interested in this software, let me know. It is so easy to use, which is great. And then I can catch up with more people. :-)

Weekend otherwise was lovely. Scott and I slept in yesterday, then headed to Greenwich. I really like Greenwich, it has a lovely feel to the place. A bit sleepy, a bit touristy, crowded, noisy, quiet. It sounds strange, but that's the feeling the place gives you. It's a bit of everything. And at night time there is a green light projected into the night sky which represents the Greenwich Meridian. It's really lovely to have a visual reminder of just how close we really are to it! We wandered through the town looking at the bookshops, the people and a market. I found a bag stall in the markets that is run by a lady who makes all of the bags. I loved the bags, but I asked her if it was possible for her to put a zip into the top for me, and to make it out of a thicker corduroy fabric. So, in three weeks time, I shall have me a funky bag to show off. I have been looking for a while for something, and this seems to fit the bill. And I like the fact that I can support a small business.

Then today we headed into Oxford Street. Scott and I both needed to make purchases of work trousers, as they are getting too big, and some work shoes. We were very successful, which was great. We ended up with Dr Martens each. They will be perfect for work and other occasions.


And in other news, my lovely friend Maree had her third baby on Thursday! His name is Corbin Dominic Walker, and he is very cute. A real cuddle is not possible, but I send virtual cuddles to all members of the family!!

Not much

Just wanted to do a quick update, as I am feeling in the mood. :-)

I was trained in something new today. At my museum we have a childrens gallery, which is aimed at kids under 12. We are running a carers and toddlers group on Mondays from 10-2, for children, aged 18 months to 5 years, and their parents/carers. So I was able to participate in this. It's not much different from what we normally do in there, we just offer them stories, colouring in, that kind of thing. :-) It is always fun watching really little kids in the gallery. Although it can put you off having kids for life watching some of them!

Scott starts his new job today. He is having two days of induction, and then he is thrown into it on Wednesday. I am happy for him that he is in a job in his field. He has a contract now until April, which is great.

New job for Scotty

News just in...Scott has got a new job! He will be still working for the law firm he has been with for he last 4 months, but he has been promoted. He will now be a paralegal! It is very exciting, as it is a step in the right direction for his career. I am very happy for him. We went out for drinks last night with his work people. They are all very nice. They bought hime two business shirts as the going aaway present, which was really lovely of them. I think he will miss working with them all, but he will still see them as much as possible.

I am working all weekend. I am currently in the cloak room of our museum, minding the place while someone is on a break. We have been reasonably busy today, which is great. We have had story telling sessions, all about sugar and the Caribbean, I believe. The museum is in an old warehouse that used to hold sugar and rum, hence the connection.

Wedding weekend

Scott and I went to a wedding on Saturday. We met all the other people from my work at London Bridge station at midday to catch the train to Harpenden, in Hertfordshire, which is north of London. The bride was a girl from work, Clare, a lovely young woman and one of the duty managers. I have been at work for nearly 4 months now, and it was lovely to be invited. There were 12 of us who travelled together up to the wedding, and we met up with others at the pub next to the churchyard. There we had lunch, chatted to the groom, and waited until 2.30pm when we walked through the churchyard to the church. The church was lovely. Not Catholic from what I could tell, and really quite old. I did feel like I was back at school with all the hymns we sang, but nevertheless it was a lovely ceremony.

After the ceremony, the happy couple posed for photos outside, including a group photo with all of us museum peoples. Then we walked to the village hall, where the reception was being held. It was on the other side of the village, but it was a lovely walk through the village and a large green area, which took about 20 minutes. The reception was a barn dance. Nice and informal. It was such a great idea though. Barn dancing is not a thing a lot of people do often, but everyone was willing to get up and dance. The music was great too. All in all a really fun, relaxed reception.

We stayed overnight at the same hotel everyone else was, which worked out really well, as we had breakfast with them the next morning. Then most people drove/were driven to St Albans, a Roman town nearby to have lunch in one of England's oldest pubs. It was a lovely place, with nice food.

All in all a really lovely weekend.

I am meeting a girl I met in my Victorian London course tonight. I think we will just be grabbing a bite to eat and catching up a bit.

:-)

Hello! I am killing time in the internet cafe waiting for the post office to reopen after lunch. I ask you, who closes a whole post office just to eat?? Anyway, I wanted to fill you in on my last couple of days at work.

I was told by a mother that I "ruined her daughters day" on Sunday. Yay! That's part of my job description.... Not really. I was the gallery atendant for the children's interactive gallery we have at work. There is a soft play area there for the kiddies who are under 1 metre tall. It no longer goes on age, as it was deemed dangerous to put a big 4 year old in with a small 2 year old. You can guess why. Anyway, I was feeling particularly lenient, and I told the girl and her mother when they came in that the girl was too tall for the soft play area (which she clearly was), but I was nice and told her that she could go in until other small kids came in then I would have to ask her to leave that area and do another activity. Obviously not pleased, but that's not my problem. I was approached by the mother some 5 minutes later telling me "If you don't mind me saying this, but you have ruined my daughter's day. She is only 4 years old, and was looking forward to playing in there. I am trying not to give her a complex about being tall, and you have not helped one bit" or words to that effect, then started blubbering and ran out of the room. I just giggled, as I knew I had done nothing wrong, and quite frankly, she will give her poor child a complex if she treats her like that. I told the manager, who said that I was in the right, and there was nothing to worry about at all. We decided that it was not me who ruined the child's day, but her mother ruining her life. We all had a good laugh!!

I saw weeping willows today that had had "haircuts". :-)

I am going to meet an old school friend today. I have not seen her since the end of first year uni I think. Will be really weird to see her, but nice to catch up too I think.

Hope you are all well. :-)

Not much has happened in the last week. We went for a walk through the square mile that is the City of London. It was really interesting, and I learnt a lot about the City. I think my favourite place was an alley way called Change Alley. It's not your typical alley way as it has 5 entrances.

Work is going well. We went out for dinner last night at a restaurant. There were 12 of us and it was really lovely.

Sorry it's so short!! :-)

Moving House!

Hello! Yes, it's that time again, to move house. Scott and I decided to move closer to my work, which also means a shorter journey time for him as well. So we decided to move to the east of London. And we will be travelling to work on the Docklands Light Railway. This is a tram-like train that travels above ground (a nice change from the underground). We are taking the opportunity to send a lot of things home. We seem to have accumulated quite a bit over the last 11 months, so it is high time that we sent it home! And it's better not to move it to the other side of London. Our landlady has said that we can leave the stuff we are shipping home in our room until necessary, which is a big help. Judy is coming to help us move the rest of our stuff on Sunday afternoon. She kindly offered, and I am very grateful.

We are moving in to a house near to a DLR (see above) station, about 20 mins from my work. We will be living with three Polish guys, who all seem really lovely, and all seem to be neat freaks! No cleaning is expected of us, other than cleaning up after ourselves and keeping our own room clean (easy).

Work is going well. I am still enjoying it. I have interesting conversations with people at work, which is great. I am happy there at the moment. The money is not great, but our new place will be cheaper for rent, as well as travel costs (for me anyway). Work has been quiet of late though. It has given me the chance to write some snail mail. So if I have missed anyone out who would like an email please let me know! I will be happy to write you a proper letter. I figured that people get very few letters these days with emails etc, and I love getting mail (hint hint!!).

Today is the first day of Open House London weekend. Basically, for one weekend each year many buildings that are not normally open to the public open their doors so we can see what's hiding inside. Scott had a look through the booklet I had brought home from work. He found a building in there that he had heard of, and really wanted to see. It was called 19 Princelet Street. Not very imaginative I know, but it was built by Hugenots in 1749, and has been used by many different peoples over the generations. Its uses by the French Hugenots, the Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia as well as the Bangladeshi immigrants of recent years truly reflects the character of the East End. It is a fascinating building. http://www.19princeletstreet.org.uk We have stopped in at an Indian restaurant that has internet computers. We are currently in Brick Lane, which is a very famous part of London with more Indian restaurants per square inch than anywhere else!!

Toodles!

It has been too long since I last posted. I mentioned in my last post that we were going to be having a really busy weekend at the museum. Well, my expectations were well and truly fulfilled! On a "normal" day at the museum we have about 100-150 visitors. On the Saturday of the weekend we had 2311 and on the Sunday we had 3208!! It was absolute bedlam. I was on the ground floor all weekend so I was in the thick of it all. We had free entry all weekend, so a lot of people came in just to see what was inside. It was good publicity for the museum really. And hopefully the people who came in will come back to see the rest of the museum. It was a fun weekend, but I was absolutely exhausted by the end of each day.

I had the Tuesday off and spent most of it in bed as I think one of the 6000-odd people who filed past me at the front desk on the weekend had given me the flu. I called in sick on Wednesday as well, then went to work on Thursday. I lasted all of two hours, when I was told to go home!! They rang me later in the day and told me I was not to come back to work until Monday! That suited me fine as I really was not well and slept quite a bit. So I effectively had 6 days off work. I lost only 1 days pay too which was a nice surprise.

On the weekend we met Judy at the Imperial War Museum for coffee. They have a new exhibition that I wanted to see, so it seemed like a good point to meet at. The exhibition is on the second world war, but all about how children were effected by the changes, rationing, etc. It was very interesting. They even had a house that you could walk through. Coffee (well, tea) was lovely, 'twas good to catch up with Judy. We were telling her about the fact that we have to move house. She suggested we move closer to the east of London. It makes sense really. We had thought about it before, but now it just seems quite logical. My life seems to be in the east at the moment, with work and the gym being over there. And it would make my days shorter at least! And coming up to winter that is a big deal, considering it gets dark so early in the evening.

Saturday we went on an adventure. We went to Shadwell, in the east, to try and find a church that ancestors of Scott's got married in in 1855. We found the church which was very exciting. It is now in a run down area, but it's nice to know it's still standing. The area would have been very different back then. At work we have a reconstructed 1840s street, which is dark and smelly, called Sailortown. It really gives you an insight into how the area would have been back then. And I am sure the smells are accurate too!!

Now it's back to work. They asked if they could change my roster on me. That's fine. I will now have alternate Wednesday and Fridays off instead of Tuesdays and Thursdays, but that's okay with me. It was the roster I agreed to in the first place, it was only when I got here that they changed it on me!

So that is my life to the present. I hope I have enlightened you somewhat. :-)

I feel like I am not updating this journal as often as I could, but sometimes I feel that the things I do are just everyday stuff. Not really exciting stuff to write about!!

Last night was our last lesson of our Victorian London course. I really enjoyed it. The lecturer was really interesting. We continued the class afterwards at the local pub, with discussions of more London history and other topics. We got home really late, but I had a really fun night. Perhaps even made a new friend! You never know...

We will be having a really busy weekend at the museum this weekend. There is a festival out the front of the museum, and entry to the museum is free. So, should be a busy weekend!! Sleep in on Tuesday. I keep telling myself that!!

I hope all who read this are happy and healthy. I would love to hear from you all!!

:-)

Brighton!!

Brighton was a really lovely place to visit for the weekend. I have decided however, that I do not like beaches with rocks on them. They really really hurt my footsies, so I was not impressed. But I did make the effort of getting my feet wet once in the English Channel, so now I can say I have. So there. :-)

We stayed right opposite the beach, which was great. We couldsee the pier from our room, and up to the old West Pier, which was burned down some years ago now, and all that remains in the iron framwork. Quite good to take photos of really. :-) The pier is fun, there are lots of rides, and many places for you to lose your money playing arcade games. Teach the kids early I say! We played a few, and ended up with some soft toys. Not sure what I will do with them, but we'll see! :-)

Saturday was spent wandering the beach, looking at shops, the people, enjoying the sunshine. We headed to the pier, had a look around, and spotted a train on the other side of the pier. Apparently it is the world's longest running electric train. We boarded the train and took it up to the marina at the other end of the beach. There they have a shopping centre, and it kind of the modern end of town, as it is all newer developments. They had a display of sand sculptures which were based on Egyptian designs, so there were pyramids, and pharoahs and mummies. I was very impressed with it all though. Excellent to look at, very well done. Took the train back, and spent some time on the beach on our picnic blanket and watched the sun go down behind the buildings about 8.45pm. Then it was back to the hotel to get changed for dinner. Brighton has a section of the town called The Lanes, which is basically the restaurant section, but no cars can drive in it. Handy for those who like to drink! We found a little cafe called The Mint Leaf, and had a lovely dinner there. I tried Pimms, which I like very much. :-)

Sunday we headed to the Royal Pavilion. It is an amazing building, so oppulent inside. The main design style is Chinese, but there are pillars disguised as palm trees, and dragon wallpaper, and an obscene amount of gold. I could not take photos inside, but it is definitely a place I shall remember!

Not happy Jan

I have no idea how I can get spam as comments on this journal. I will just delete them as I get them I think. It's bad enough that I get spam in my email!

Anyway, worked the weekend. So did Scott. I think it will be the last weekend Scott works in a while, as he has worked the last three in a row. This weekend we are spending the weekend in Brighton for our two year anniversary. We leave London on Friday evening after work. Brighton is only an hour away by train, and is supposed to be lovely. I am really looking forward to our weekend away. Our next one shall be in Amsterdam I believe. :-)

Interesting...

In a shop the other day I came across rubber band balls. My mum used to make them at work when I was younger and bring them home. Are these ready-made rubber band balls a sign of the times - a convenience product when one really isn't needed?

Just a random thought.....

Day off

I had the day off yesterday - but I still came into work. Why, you might ask. Well, I asked the conservator at my museum if I could find out what she does for the day, and follow her around. She is lovely, and she agreed. So I spent the day drinking tea with them and the curator. I also spent time in the galleries finding marks on the walls, which we painted over in the afternoon. So all in all a fun day. Then I had my course in the evening at the Museum of London.

I am working all weekend too. :-)

So, Scott and I joined the gym behind work. We are heading there tonight for our first class - aqua aerobics. I am looking forward to making myself gorgeous (slowly but surely).

:-)

Well, I think it has been a little too long between posts, but sometimes I just think that there is nothing to say. I am feeling a little low today. I am feeling broke, and just a little depressed in general. But I will snap out of it. I think it's just one of those days you know? I will be fine later on.

I have decided to join the gym across the road from work. Scott will probably join with me, and we may go together after work, and I may go in the mornings as well. I want to do aqua aerobicss on a Tuesday night which will be good. As for the rest of it, just a general level of fitness and toning will be fine thank you.

Scott had to work all weekend. Well, he was asked if he would like to work at my museum and he said he would, as he too is feeling broke I think. So I had a quiet one, but I did have things to do and buy which was nice. I spoke to the parents on Saturday morning, and spent some time on the internet trying to catch up on the emails I have been so slack with.

I have become a volunteer at the Jewish Museum. I wanted to get some contacts with the Jewish community here, so it is a good way really. More about that later. But now I have to go back to work!

Day off

Hello. Yesterday I had the day off work in preparation for the fact that I have to work all this weekend. I was going to meet Sarah for lunch, but she cancelled as she spent all day in hospital. All is fine, so we have rescheduled for Tuesday next week before she heads to Oz.

So I spent the day doing not much, which was fine by me. I slept in a little, and I caught up on some emails, went to the library in search of some books.

Last night's dinner was full of miniatures... we had mini Courgettes (zucchinis) and mini carrots! Yum...

A fab weekend....

Hello! Yes, as the title says, I did indeedy have a fab weekend. Saturday morning we slept in and then headed off to St Paul's Cathedral. It usually costs £7 to get in the door, but Scott can get free tickets with his work so we got in for nuthin! I understand that they need £ for the upkeep, but £7 per person? I don't think so! Anyway, we found out that the very top viewing area is out of commission due to the bombings (for safety, not because someone had bombed the place), so we could go to the Whispering Gallery and to the next one up. The Whispering one was interesting as you can stand on one side of it and whisper something to the wall and someone over the other side of the gallery can hear you. No secrets! That was approx 250 steps up. Another 250 steps up was the outside gallery, which gave us great views over the city of London and the Thames. I took lots of photos. After St Pauls' Scott and I headed to the east end of London to an area called Wapping. There are some great old pubs there, including one built in the 1590s called the Prospect of Whitby. We stood on the back deck, which is right on the Thames and watched the boats go by. The tide was going out, and I watched the archaeological record being created. I was watching two glasses being thrown about by the waves, and then getting half buried in the sand. So in future years, some archaeologist may find these odd pieces of glass.....

Sunday was fun too. We got up early and headed into the Tower O London. The City of London Archaeological Society runs something every year, where they open up the Thames foreshore in front of the Tower. People can go looking for artefacts to see what they can find. Scott and I had such a good time wandering along looking for interesting items. We found all sorts of wonderful things, including some medieval stoneware, Tudor pottery, Victorian dinner ware (all fragments!), a part of a shoe sole, various pieces of metal and all kinds of other weird and wonderful stuff. I was told that a carved piece of bone I found was used for ice skates due to the odd shape. Plausible story I thought :-) We got quite a haul. Not quite sure what we are going to do with it all, but still! And I have to lug them all into work tomorrow to show Alison at work what we found.

Drinks tonight with people from work should be lovely!

:-)

Friday night in London

I have my copy of Harry Potter. I lined up with the other keen fans to get a copy when it was released at 12.01am this morning. Scott was out drinking with people from work, having such a great time that he missed out on buying Harry with me. As he was walking down Oxford Street to the bookshop he was hit in the leg by one of those street sweepers, and then kicked in the face by a girl being lifted up by her boyfriend. So, needless to say he was not a happy boy when I finally got to see him. So we got to bed at 2.30am! Poor Scotty.

One of our housemates is really getting on our nerves. The joys of living with other people, right? Apparently this morning Scott had put a load of washing on and left the kitchen door open. The kitchen door is opposite the two other bedroom doors in the flat. Mark pretty much said that Scott was a liar after Scott told him he forgot to close the door. Meanwhile it was 11am, and he was not being noisy. Mark is such a .... Well, I really shouldn't say it one here! Delicate eyes may see!!

HARRY POTTER

THE 6TH BOOK IS RELEASED TODAY AT MIDNIGHT.

CAN YOU TELL I AM EXCITED ABOUT THIS?

maybe? :-)

Another day at the office.

We had a fire alarm set off in the museum today. Oh joy. Apparently one of the tradesmen pressed the wrong door release button (he pushed the emergency one rather than the normal one) and set the fire alarms off. So, in all the fun, I went to lunch late. But I did get talking to a lovely elderly gentleman about when he used to work in the docks as a maintenance guy. He was telling me about all the times that whiskey used to go missing from shipments, and that no one ever knew about it (in other words they all knew but to whoever asked they had no clue as they were working elsewhere).

No other news really. I have to work all weekend. But we have a new exhibition on childrens toys which should be fun. I think I will sneak in there today and see what I can see!

So, it's the beginning of another week. I have Thursday off, but I am working all weekend. It should be a good weekend, as there is a birthday party on, and I am yet to see one of those on at the museum. There are quite a few different events held here, such as corporate events, birthday parties, and lectures. So there is usually something going on.

But, it is back to work. Just wanted to let you know that I am well. Scott and I had a picnic in our park yesterday. I carried the saucepan over with the bowls and we had our dinner there. IT was a nice change and really fun.

:-)

Well, after yesterday, I think I have come to realise, that you have to get on with life, no matter what it throws at you. I avoided the disaster zones yesterday, but there were so many caught up in it all. I have a lot of mixed feelings towards what happened here in London yesterday. I am angry that people thought that blowing up a bus and three tubes that they would be making a point. I feel awful for the families of those who lost loved ones, who do not know what happened to their friends and family yesterday. There are a lot of unanswered questions today, and will be for some time. I am happy that Scott and I avoided being caught in the disaster. I am impressed with the way that the emergency services worked yesterday under the extreme pressure of the situations they faced.

All of that may not make much sense, but today, not a lot of things do. Tubes are returning to normal, apart from the ones blown apart. Buses are running. But many people are not going to work today. Either their offices are closed or they just cannot face going on public transport so soon. But on the other hand, people did make the trek into work, to show that they will not be intimidated by these terrorists.

I entirely agree.

I will not be intimidated by the work on some maniacs who tried to disturb the peace in London.
I will not stay at home on the off chance that something might happen.
I will not live my life in fear, in London or anywhere else in the world.

Explosions

Hello. Well, London this morning was rocked by a series of explosions. I was at work at the time, so I watched some of it unfold on the television screen while buying my lunch. All I know is that there were 7 explosions, all seemingly timed to go off during peak hour. It is unbelievable. It just does not seem real. I feel awful for the people caught up in it all. It really makes you appreciate life, doesn't it?

The day before the day off

Hello!

Yes, I have the day off tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it, as I worked all weekend. I was in the children's gallery all day on saturday, and on the ground floor on Sunday, with spells in the kiddies' section then too. All in all a good weekend, but tiring! I am not used to working weekends anymore, but at least the museum was reasonbly busy. At one point I think I had 18 children in the gallery, which was noisy, but fun. There is a water feature in there that the kids can play with, and dig through the small pebbles to find hidden treasures. It is structured so that the water flows down towards the stones through a series of channels, which are like rivers flowing towards the sea. You can dam these rivers with blocks and make the land flood.

:-)

Another one...

Hi again,

I am still at work, sitting in the cloak room at the moment. I have been in the children's gallery for most of the day, so I am taking a break from all the stinky children. I have had fun though. I don't mind being in there, but it does remind me how much I miss my friend Maree's kids. Those two could always make me laugh. :-)

Speaking of children, I would like to wish my lovely friend Mickaela congratulations. She and her fiance (husband in 6 days' time) are expecting their first baby in February next year. I am very excited for them. I am surprised that she is the first one out of my three Melbourne friends to have a baby, but that's life right? Full of surprises. Well, that will make it three babies I miss out on meeting while I am out of the country. My cousin Tegan had a baby girl in April, Maree is having her third in October, and now Mick. :-)

Toodles!

The weekend...

Hello there!

I am at work, on the first weekend I have worked since I left home! But I had the day off on Thursday and again on Tuesday so it shouldn't be too bad!

I went out for drinks last night with most of the people from work. There is a great pub behind the builing, with excellent atmosphere (sometimes hard to find!). It was really lovely to be able to talk to people outside a work environment. And besides, all the people I work with at the moment are really lovely anyway! :-)

Scott is at work with me today. He was meant to be working at the Florence Nightingale Museum, but that fell through and the agency asked if he would like to work the entire weekend at my museum. So he said yes. :-)

Not much more to tell really. Not going to Live8, as I didn't even bother to try and get tickets. I am sure I will see the highlights on the news tonight.

:-)

end of the week

hi there

no capital letters today as the shift key is a little stiff on this keyboard. as is the space bar, but i kinda need that one.

so, another week is over, and my first week at the new job is complete. i enjoyed myself overall. there are patches of boredom, but that is to be expeted i guess when there are no visitors to "assist"!! i am coming to the conclusion that even though the money in this job is not that great, the fact that everyone i work with is lovely and it's in a museum really makes up for it. it is hard to bond with people in offices, as they have a completely different dynamic. but in the museum, where there is time to talk and it's ok to talk, it's quite different. i am having some quite interesting and varied conversations too which is helping my brain not fall asleep during the day. the backgrounds of people there is very varied as well. there are ex school teachers, people who lived in the area so they know all about the topic that the museum deals with, and so on. and i am in a position to learn a great deal about a subject i know nothing as well. always good to expand the knowledge on whatever subject is available i say!

scott and i spent the day at the society of genealogists doing some research yesterday. i was reasonably successful in finding out some census informaton, but it was not for me, but for mum's friend. it was great to be able to track the one family from the 1861 census right through to the 1901 census. very satisfying. we met mum's cousin judy after that and had a wnder around the barbican. it is a development in london which has apartments, as well as theatres, concert halls etc. so we had dinner, and then scott and i went to the movies. we saw batman begins. i really enjoyed it actually. it was very dark, but so much better than the other batman films i have seen, some of which were quite cheesy and formulaic in my opinion.

and today not much is happening. we live near a park, and in the ark today is a festival. so we will check that out. i also saw a pair of shoes i would like to try on, so i will look at them today. i need a pair of sandals, and i think these would do the job - if they fit of course!! as for the festival, it's a rip off of the glastonbury festival which is usually a mud bath as it rains on all the people and their tents every year! hopefully they won't replicate that aspect of it...

so i shall be off. hope everyone is well. i would love to be able to say which museum i am working at, but i would prefer not to broadcast it to the billions around the world on the internet. if you would like to know, i can tell you by email!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

New job

Hello! I am sitting in the staff room of my new job. I am a visitor assistant at one of the larger London museums. I can be here long term if I so desire. There is a lot to take in, what to do etc, but I am getting there. The place also covers a topic I know very little about, so I am looking forward to learning more. It is certainly a foot in the door, as this museum is affiliated with another large London museum, which has a large archaeology section. So you never know where this may take me! I am much happier than I was a little while ago. I still get homesick occasionally, but it is certainly not enough to make me want to go home. I think Oz would be rather quiet compared to London!

Scott also has a new job. He is working in the archives of one of the larger law firms. He seems to be happy with the job, which is great. He had to buy a whole bunch of new clothes, so he looks all spiffy when he goes to work every day. :-)

Update :-)

So, I went into the agency that I will be working for on this museum job yesterday to get the details of my job, and give them my bank details so they can pay me! The job in exactly the same job I applied for at this particular museum in February I think it was. I was given the job description, which was dated Dec 2004, that looked mighty familiar!!

In other news, one of the people we live with, Mark, seems to have falled off the planet. He has not contacted anyone since Sunday. He hasn't called in sick to work, nothing. He is not answering his phone. So, who knows what is going on there! I think the landlady will be reporting him as missing to the coppers sometime.

Never a dull moment!

JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got a museum job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Indeedy, I did. Today in fact. I start on Monday. It is with a museum I have had an interview before. I registered with a new agency, and they had this position going. So they said they would put me forward for it. So, when they spoke to the museum, the people there rememberd me, thought I was lovely, and decided that they would not even interview me!

I am so excited I can't keep the smile off my face. This is what I have wanted for the last seven months!! And it has happened!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ireland...

Hello!!

Dad and I flew to Dublin on Monday the 30th of May. It is only an hour and 15 mins, which is nothing really! I got a stamp in my passport saying I was allowed to "land in Ireland for three months", and we were off! We caught the bus to the city, and found the hotel. We stayed right in the centre of Dublin, which was excellent. We walked everywhere, but that is quite easy to do in Dublin as the place is quite small and compact! I really loved the feel of the place. I felt quite at ease in Ireland all over really. I am sure it was a combination of the people and the scenery that made me feel that way.

The first day we spent at the National Archives talking to people in their genealogy service. The service is free, and very handy to have when you are a tourist! We were told that civil registration began in 1864 in Ireland, so before that it is quite difficult to progress. And the fact that the records office was destroyed in 1922 by a fire also does not help the process!!! We were also told that with so little information that we have on certain members of the family, it will be basically impossible to tell if the people we find are actually ours or not. I figured as much really, especially seeing as though in some cases we just have a name, a date and a vague place!! For instance, I would love to find out more about my ancestor called Patrick Maloney. He lived in County Clare and was born around 1821. That is all the information we have on him. Just to give you an example: the name Maloney is very popular in Clare, and so is the name Patrick. There are also a large number of variations to the name, as spelling was often phonetic back then. So in fact, it could be spellt Malone, Maloney, Molone, Moloney, Molony. You understand my problem?

Second day we went to the General Records Office. We figured we should be able to find a marriage record for dad's great grandparents, as their son was born in Dublin in 1881. I found their marriage record from April 1881 in an index and got a photocopy done of the record for about 2 Euros (about $4AUD). So we did have a little bit of success!!

On the Thursday Dad and I headed out of Dublin in our rental car westwards. The car company stuffed us around for three hours, but we took the opportunity to go back into Dublin city and we had a look for the house dad's great grandparents were living in when they got married. They had the same address, 16 Parnell Place, so Dad and I thought perhaps they were living in the same boarding house. We found the street, but number 16 had been replaced with a 1970s building and carpark. I had a feeling it would be too good to be true to find the original 1880s house there. But we walked the street that they would have walked, which made me feel even more connected to Ireland.

Our first stop after we finally had the car was County Roscommon. Some months ago now, I found, quite by accident, a second cousin of dad's on the internet. She had been in contact with a family in the town of Tulsk in County Roscommon who were apparently related to us. Anyway, we went to meet them. They were really lovely people. But, we still cannot work out how, or if we are in fact related!! But it was fantastic to meet them. They are farmers, and they have wonderful accents (I lurve the Irish accent). Which reminds me, the place we stayed the first night was a bed and breakfast dad had booked over the internet. They had a lovely home, a two storey Georgian place. We were the only ones staying that night. Anyway, the couple who owned the place had a six and a half year old daughter called Rachel. She was adorable!! She kept asking us all these questions about kangaroos, and me being in love with her accent, I kept making her talk! She was so sweet :-)

The next day we drove to the west coast, to Galway City. It was surprisingly busy!! There were traffic jams in the main street!! We headed out of Galway and headed towards Limerick. We found the Hunt Museum(!) in Limerick, which was a fine way to spend a couple of hours on a rainy rainy afternoon. By the way, it rained MOST of the time we were in Ireland, but we expected that really. :-) Made it difficult to take phots sometimes. I really wanted to be able to send the rain we saw to Australia, where they need it so badly. We stayed that night just outside Tipperary (It's a long way...) in a castle! Well, it was really a fortified house according to dad, but it was lovely. And fun to stay in a "castle"!!!

The next day we had a big day of driving ahead of us. We drove around the Ring of Kerry, which is an amazing road which takes you along the coast of County Kerry in the south west of Ireland. The secenery changes just about every second you are on the road. It was just breathtaking watching the scenery change - from coastline to farm land, every minute was a new experience. We stayed the night outside Cork in a place called Carrigtwohill, which is a small village with FOUR pubs in the main street. Dad and I found one and wandered in. I bought a Guinness for dad and a lemonade for myself. When you order lemonade in Irish pubs you do not get clear fixxy liquid. You get a rusty coloured liquid that tastes different from Sprite and the lemonades I am used to. I bought one for Scott so he could try it. But I really enjoyed it. And it is true, the Guinness does taste different in Ireland. I think they must put more preservatives in it for transport, as the taste of it in Ireland is much sweeter, less bitter.

Our second last day we drove back into Cork and out the other side to Blarney, to the famous castle. It is an amazing place, but again it was raining!! But dad and I climbed to the very top of the castle up these incredibly small and steep spiral stairs. Great views from the top. We saw the blarney stone. I didn't kiss it, as it was raining, and I know I will be back! And besides, I am sure I talk enough as it is!! Then from there we drove to a town about an hour from Dublin, as we had to fly out of Dublin the next day. We stopped at the Waterford Crystal factory, and had a tour. I was given a new appreciation of the workmanship that goes into the peices of crystal. They are not to my taste necessarily, but they are amazing when you see them being carved and engraved all by hand!!

Then it was on the plane back to London the next afternoon. I had such a lovely time with dad in Ireland. A real holiday. It is an expensive place, especially Dublin, but I will definitely go back.

My parents went home last Thursday night London time. I was in tears at the train station. I guess I just had this irrational fear that I would never see them again. No idea why, but I do miss them, just like I miss a lot of things. But, that will not bring me home to Australia, not just yet anyway. I am making a life over here at the moment. I do enjoy London. It gets me down sometimes when I am not working, like this week, but at the same time, I have an amazing opportunity that so many others would never have. I have the opportunity to live and work on the other side of the world, to travel, to meet people.

:-)

Promise kept

Hello!!

I have had a busy last few weeks. And I have not really had time to write in this journal since my parents arrived two weeks ago or so. They arrived in London on the 7th of May. It was great to see them after six months I can tell you. :-) We did a bus trip around London, one of those touristy ones that takes threee hours! But I think it was a nice way to spend some time with my parents who were tired after the flight anyway!

On Sunday the 8th May we met up with my cousins for lunch. There were ten people at the lunch, and it was lovely to see them all again. After lunch we went to the Globe Theatre to see Shakespeare's The Tempest. The theatre is a replica on the banks of the Thames built like the original Globe Theatre of some 500 years ago. So we sat in the upper balcony and watched a modern interpretation of the play. I enjoyed myself, as I tried to imagine myself watching the same play all those years ago with all the "groundlings" throwing fruit at the players if they were displeased with them!! Groundlings, by the way, are the people who have to stand for the length of the play in front of the stage.

Tuesday we flew to Hungary. I was really looking forward to meeting the relatives. I had heard so much about them, and I was finally going to be able to put faces to names! We were met at the airport by Pista and Eva, and their ex-son-in-law Tamas. We settled into our flat, and had a quiet rest of the day. We were staying in a flat in the centre of the city. Now when I say the centre of the city, it is unlike the city centres of Australian cities. There are no high rise office buildings, but many apartments buildings, shops, and offices. It is a real mix.

I guess I don't need to tell you everything we did, as I would take up a great deal of space!! I will give you my impressions of Budapest. Even though I had never been there, I did feel a connection to it. My mum is Hungarian, but left there as a child of nine. I have been brought up with the Hungarian language around me, but I cannot speak it. Mum cooks Hungarian food, which I miss a great deal over here! I loved meeting my relatives, who are all gorgeous. It is certainly a different life over there, much more stressful. I think it has to do with the low wages, which would cause a great deal of stress with me that's for sure!

We did a little bit of sight seeing when we were there. It was really just a taster trip for me. As I know I will be back. So it was nice to be able to get a feel for the country with a native speaker in tow! We ventured 2 hours out of Budapest on the train to where mum was born. The town in called Bekescaba, and it would really be just another town to me, had I not gone there with mum. She was able to point out certain things she remembered from her childhood there.

I initially spent 5 days there with mum and dad. That was what I could fit in around work etc, but plans changed slightly. My grandfather's first cousin was in Budapest at the same time we were, which was fantastic. So, in honour of his being there, a family reunion was organised for the weekend after I left to go back to London. So, Scott and I flew back for a few days. I am so happy I went back. There were about 40 people at the reunion, which was held at a small function centre. I am quite familiar with the family tree, but to actually meet the people whose names appear on the tree is quite something else. I found it a little overwhelming to begin with, but I had a lovely time. I had written a form for everyone to fill in, so I can update the details on my family history database. From the info I collected, I will be able to send everyone a new family tree, so everyone knows where they fit in.

Family's are funny. You certainly cannot choose who you are related to, but I am very happy that I am related to the people I met in Budapest.

Still here...

Hello out there!!

This is a quick post to let you know that I have not forgotten you all. I wanted to share a funny link with those of you who have not given up on me!!

http://www.uffclub.com/dloads/london_underground.swf

There are some rude words in there so be warned!! But it is a very funny song about the London Underground.

I will be updating tomorrow with a long long update on what I have been up to in the last two weeks or so. So stay tuned!!

Long time no post

Hello!

I have not had internet access where Scott and I have been working the last four days. We were working in the same office as I did not have a job for this week and his work place said they would have me. The place is in utter shambles. I liked being in the same office as Scott, but I don't think I want to work there again!

We are enjoying our new house, and getting along well with our flatmates. We apparently even scored a nice tv today from our land lady. She loves us. :-) She sent us a text message suggesting a drink too. And we are all planning a barbeque at her house for a few weekends away. Excellent.

I am looking forward to tomorrow, and the next month or so. I fly to Hungary on Tuesday, and I am very excited about meeting my relatives in Hungary. I am also looking forward to the cuisine. I miss my mum's cooking. Ah well, the trials of being away from home, right?

My cousin had a daughter last week. So congratulations to Tegan and her daughter Kyla.

Keep well everyone!

Change of plans

I am doing one days work tomorrow in Vauxhall, helping with a mailout. So yes, no rest for me then! Actually, I would rather be working. I still get a long weekend, regardless!

The interview

I had a date with the Queen on Monday. I thought I better clarify this point before you thing I am going crazy.

On Monday afternoon, I had an interview for the position of Warden, for when Buckingham Palace opens to the public when Her Majesty is away at Balmoral. It was a group interview, and I hope I did ok. It was really daunting, and I was so nervous. But I tried not to show it, when we had to stand up in front of 15 people and answer questions about who we were, why we wanted the job etc. Then we had to get measured for our uniforms, so if we got the job they would be waiting for us. And had an individual interview. So daunting. I just want to know the outcome though! A problem I have, is that they want to see my original university degree certificates. These are currently in frames on my bedroom wall.

So there you have it.

Last day of the working week

Well, seeing as though I am working only 4 days here, I have a four day weekend! It is a Bank Holiday, which is the UK equivalent of a public holiday. It is just a pity I am not getting paid for it!

Tonight Scott and I are going out to dinner to a Mexican restaurant with his work collegues. Someone is leaving apparently, so we have been invited. Lovely. I am glad that Scott brought the menu home last week though, as I had to pick something dairy free. I have decided it is not great for me to eat dairy. In normal quantities anyway. What I mean is, I won't be having cheese in sandwiches etc, but if I have something that might contain milk, it's ok. I think it's just the quantity that makes the difference to me. I feel better for it already. I have been doing it for a week now. :-)

Tomorow I am a free woman. What to do, what to do. Hmmm. I think I shall sleep in a little, and explore the area we moved to a little more. And some shopping maybe.

Saturday we are off to the Family History Fair, being run by the Society of Genealogists. Should be interesting!

Sunday - who knows!

Monday - who knows!

Excellent.

New house etc

Hello there!

I am currently sitting in a new desk in a new job. Admittedly it is only for four days, but it is a great change from doing the same thing every day for the last two months! I am working for a betting arbitration office. Basically people ring up if they have a complaint about a bookie or agency or whatever. I am answering the phones and sending out correspondence. And getting paid a little more than I did at CIPFA (I can say the company name now that I am not working there anymore!). It stands for the Chartered Insitute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

I have my date with the Queen this arvo. I am really nervous. My stomach has been churning since I woke up this morning, and is probably the reason I did not sleep all that well last night either.

We moved into our new place yesterday. We managed to squeeze all our stuff in one car, and made only one trip which was great. Trip took all of 12 minutes, which included the driver slowing down for every speed bump so that the bottom of the car would not scrape along the road!! But we arrived in one piece, with nothing broken, or fallen out the windows of the car! We had help getting everything up the two flights of stairs to the flat. We dumped our stuff, and found the place in mayhem with everyone there, including the landlord and her dog! We signed our lives away on the contract etc, handed over a cheque for a lot of money (deposit and one months rent) and breathed a sigh of relief. We did a little unpacking, and then at about 1.30pm we all went out for lunch. Landlady included! It was fun, sitting around chatting and laughing with people. We then did a little bit of a pub crawl, trying out two pubs. One, called The Green, has a great seating area out the front. A little expensive on the drinks side of things, but we could sit outside! Amazing. :-) Then it was off to the next pub, not as nice, but they had a pool table. Played a couple of games, once Laurie beat the guy already playing. So then the table was ours. Played a couple of games of doubles. Then it was home to new flat for dinner. Well, we got Chinese take away on the way home. We checked out the Down Under Centre too, which is an internet cafe and they sell Aussie food. Expensive, but nice to know if I really need a packet of Tim Tams I can get them (even though they cost the equivalent of about $6 Australian!!!).

I am happy in this house. We have a nice room (with a brand new bed), the people are easy to talk to, and we have a huge park as our back yard!! And there are more Aussies in the area too.

So there you go.

New house, new job

Hello!

So yes, as the title says, we are moving house - tomorrow morning! We have a cab booked, should cost about £18, so not too bad really. I can't remember what I have already written about the new place, but we will be sharing with another couple, and a single guy. I am looking forward to the move. The landlord's agent, the complete git, has managed to turn the process of us leaving, into a long drawn out process, with another one of our house mates involved. He has decided the seeing as though he is going on holidays tomorrow, and therefore cannot be there to sign the paperwork etc, he will get Nat to pick up the deposit cheque from him instead of him coming over. She apparently is not to give this to us until tomorrow when we leave. What are we going to do with the cheque? Cash it on a Saturday night? Hello? Grrrrrrrr......

Anyway, on a lighter note, I did a one day course today. Twas fab! It was called "The Archaeology of Islands". As the name suggests, it looked at islands in both the physical sense, as well as the ideological sense. There were 5 speakers, and they each outlined a case study froma different part of the world. There was Easter Island and the colonisation of the Pacific Ocean. Ireland and the artifical islands created in lakes and rivers, islands in Lake Victoria in Africa, And island off the coast of Scotland, and Cuba. I really enjoyed being back in a learning environment. I miss using my brain!! Sad but true. I will keep my eye out for more courses like these I think. Keep my brain active!

To the last bit of packing I think, then to bed! Toodles!

Friday!

Whoo hoo!!

We have a new place to live in. We are moving in on Sunday morning. It is a flat, and we will be charing with another Aussie couple and an English guy. A very large park is our backyard, and it is not too far from transport etc.

Another whoo hoo is for leaving this place. It is my last day at this particular assignment, and I am not sorry to be going. I have another job for next week, which is great. I will be breathing a large sigh of relief when I no longer have to hear these two girls talk to themselves etc.

And I have a date with the Queen on Monday afternoon.

:-)

Tuesday, nothing exciting

We are looking at a flat tonight. Hopefully it will be a good one. It is within our budget, just barely, so keep your fingers crossed it is ok!! It fits the other pre-requisites too.

Friday - Thank god!

So, I have endured yet another day in this hell hole of an office. Today, they eejits have been having email conversations about me. Like I really care? Are we back in high school? Honestly. Do I really give a hoot what two immature 24/25 year old things think about me? If they believe that, they are seriously deluded. I never wanted to make friends with them. Like I would want to people like that as my friends. They remind me a bit of two friends at high school (Lou - K & M). I went thru the stage they are at 10years ago. Grow up people!

On the up side, we have another house to look at tonight. So, we'll see!

:-) Have good weekends all!

Thurdsday

Hello again. I am still here in this office. I will be next week too. O well, at least I can focus on the househunting, and not have to worry about job hunting as well.

I find it hard to believe, still, that the other girl in this office keeps her job. She has done about 8 hours work in the last 2 months. She has called Jamaica (a mobile) on the company phone. She spends her days on MSN and playing games. I just cannot fathom what the heck her job actually is. She sure as hell ain't doing any work whatsoever, so why is she even here?

Another thing. I am the only one in this office doing much work. And they compain about the work not getting done to the deadline. Subtly of course, but it ain't my problem. I am not going to bust a valve in my brain straining to get the work done for 8 pounds per hour. No way. Not when the others in the office are not pulling their weight. Serves them right if they don't get it done really.

I apologise. I realise that the last few posts have been really boring, mopey and about me whining about stuff. Sorry people! Promise to talk about lighter stuff once we find new house!

Hump Day

That's another day for Wednesday to the uninitiated...

So, my day so far? Boring. As usual for the moment! I have been physically counting how many students are enrolled (or should be if the others in the office actually did any work) for each subject for each centre. This place runs exams all over the UK. What a waste of time. Surely the computer program I wrestle with every day could have done it?

I hope they don't need me next week. I could really do with a change. I know there is always the possibility of there actually being no work next week, here or elsewhere for me. But, I have been here since the beginning of Feb now. A change is in order.

Last night we had a look at a house in Northfields. Quite near to the tube, on the Piccadilly line. About 30mins away from the centre of London, zone three. The house was nice, I could see myself living there. But, it's now up to the others in the house, as they will decide. :-) An advantage of living further out, is that we would save money in rent. We are paying too much at the moment. We would pay about four pounds per week more for travel costs, but save at least 100 pounds per month on the rent. Big diffference!

Monday, again

Hello! Let me tell you about the last few days. I can't remember when I last updated, but I figured it was about time!

Wednesday night we caught up with Rob. Had a meal and a drink with him near a tube station called Angel. It was great to see him again. He's a funny guy, always has a story to tell.

Thusday night we met up with one of Scott's old work buddies, James, for a meal and a movie. We saw Sahara. It was quite good really. A little Hollywood, but good entertainment nonetheless.

Friday night we had a date with the internet cafe. We were looking for a place to live! No luck yet, but there are still a few weeks to go yet. We want to be moved by the end of the month. We also got our official paperwork for the end of the lease etc on Sunday afternoon. All fine and dandy really. The other housemates must know as the landlord/housemanager/git dropped the letter off to our room. But, they are yet to say anything to us. I don't think they really care, and quite frankly, I don't care if they know or not.

Saturday we headed off to the Family Records Centre. We both had research to do there. I was trying to track down a relative of mine, an ancestor, called Charles Stone. There are a few family stories about him that I wanted to confirm, but I couldn't confirm any of them. It is a shame that he has such a coomon name though. A pain actually! But I will find him....

Saturday night we had a date with Sarah and Jake for Hungarian food. Sarah is of Hungarian descent as well. The food was so yummy! As soon as I waled in, the smell of the place reminded me of my nana's house. And Sarah said exactly the same when she walked in! The food was not too heavy, which was great.

Sunday was a quiet day. We wandered to the library in Ealing Broadway. Had lunch in the sun in the park. Borrowed some books, came home, read and napped. Dinner, bed. Not exciting, but relaxing.

Today I am at work. Bored out of my brain. Oh well. Not long now I am sure, until I find something else.

:-)

Wish us luck with the househunting!!

End of the day

So, it is the end of the day. And apart from the fact that my pc has died no less than 6 times today, all has gone well. I have listened to classical music all day. Right now I have Autumn from The Four Seasons blasting in my ears. It's great! :-)

Biding my time

Hello!

So, I went to lunch early, as every day I have the same problem. I use a terrible database at work called Genesis. Anyway, everyday I get the same error in it at some point, so I ring up the IT department, they fix it, I reboot, and keep going. Only today, when I rang there was no one in the IT department who could fix it until 1pm. Slackers. So I went to lunch early. I am now back from lunch, and the problem still stands. So, I wait.

I have been listening to BBC's radio 3 today. Lovely classical music. I really miss classical music. It used to help me relax and unwind at the end of the day. I used to go to sleep listening to a cd sometimes too. Very helpful.

I am still bored with the job. I did ask if I could extend it, but I will talk to my agency and see if they can get me something else after the 15th. I hate being here, I hate being ignored. And above all, I am sick of listening to them talk.

:-)

So there you go!

Eejits!

I can't stand it any longer. They are driving me crazy with the way they talk to themselves all the time. I don't care what they are thinking, do they really need to share with the whole office? Honestly!

I am tempted to bring my headphones tomorrow to drown them out.

I don't understand how they can have a complete lack of consideration for others in the office. Please explain. Anyone with any ideas?

:-)

Tuesday, one day closer to the weekend!

Hello!

Well, after our decision was made, we now have to go about actually finding a place to live. But, we have a month, so we will have plenty of time. We told our house manager (who is a twit) that we were leaving, so he will come over on the weekend and arrange to get our deposit back etc. Would be nice if we got to keep that money, but at the same time, we can use that for the next place. And he said we can get a rental reference if necessary.

So, the ball is rolling. So to speak.

Not much else to report really. :-)

A decision

Scott and I talked talk night for a long time, and we have come to a conclusion. We need to move out of the house we are in now. We are not happy there, and we do not feel welcome anymore. We also want to move to an area that is more lively, and try living with other Aussies, who understand our senses of humour (sarcasm is wasted on the English) and understand where we are coming from.

So there you go. We will give our notice this week, so then we have a month to find a new place.

We are thinking of a totally new area too. Somewhere like Earl's Court, or Fulham, where lots of other Aussies congregate. So we can talk travel, and make new friends.

I will be ringing up today about us doing some short courses too. History, and I think I want to learn a language. Maybe Hebrew. Why not, right?

A grand weekend

Hello!

Scott and I have had a great weekend.

Friday night I cleaned the house, as it was my turn. Not that thrilling, but I got it out of the way. I had a phone date with my dad, which was great. I have not had a long chat to him in a while, so it was nice to "hang out" with him on the phone.

Saturday we got up early, and took the tube to London Bridge. We were off to the London Dungeon, a tourist attraction that has lots of horror and blood and guts. Apparently. It was fun, we learnt some new stuff, but I really was not grossed out or appalled by what I saw. There were fibre glass models of people with their throats cut and their intestines hanging out, but it was not real to me. Just like CSI, it doesn't make me feel ill, as I know the images are not real.

After that we tried to find the Operating Theatre Museum, just to top off the day with more gore. But, alas, it was closed for a seminar. Rude! So on our way back to the tube, we spotted a market. We wandered in, and as it turns out, it is a food market, with all sorts of yummy fruit, vegetables, meats, alcohols etc. We did get there quite late, but we know where it is next time!!

After the market we jumped on another tube, in the search of "The Prospect of Whitby", a pub in east London, on the Thames. We went there on our Jack the Ripper tour in October, and have not been back since. The pub is circa 1520, and in the back yard of the pub, ie on the wall overlooking the Thames, they used to hang people. There is still a noose there, original or not I am not sure. the story is, that they used to hang people, then leave them in the water until three tides had washed over them, just to make sure the hanging worked! The bodies were referred to as whoppers (spelling unknown to me), we were told on our tour because of the smelling that used to happen to them in the Thames. We have also heard they were called that because the bodies were taken to Wapping police station. Who knows. I love history! I love the stories, the gruesomeness (if that is a word), and I love the stories of the everyday folk.

From the pub, we walked back to Wapping tube station and caught the tube to the other side of London to Shepherds Bush. Scott slept all the way back, while I read my book. We went to the movies, to see Hitch. Very good, funny and not your average Hollywood movie. Well, to a point anyway! It was a good laught though. I do like Will Smith.

Today, we got up early again (well, for a Sunday anyway!!), and I had another phone date, this time with my friend in Melbourne, Mickaela. It was lovely to catch up on all her news, as she is getting married to someone I don't know yet in July. Maybe one day I will get to meet him! After the call, we were going to go to the Temple Church, but the Lonely Planet guide told us it was not open on Sundays. So, instead, we went to the British Library. It was fantastic, worth seeing. They have an amazing computer touch screen system where you can sit in front of the computer and actually "turn" the pages of 8 of the books in their collection. The animation is excellent, you really feel like the book is in front of you. I highly recommend it!

I hope everyone is well. :-)

An explanation

For those of you who read the comment on my last entry may be a little confused as to who Edwina is.

Edwina is my teddy bear I have had since I was 9 months old. She is looking rather worse for wear after 25 years, has no fur left and wears a blue check dress.

So there you go.

Where to begin?

I began a lengthy post yesterday about my Easter weekend when I hit the wrong key, causing me to lose all of what I had typed. So I started again, fuming, and then the website had problems so I couldn't save what I had. Grrr!!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, this is what I did on the Easter weekend.

Thursday night we went out for drinks with Sarah and her teacher friends. Not such a great idea. I really like Jake and Sarah, but the conversation was centred on teaching. I can't contribute to that, and neither can Scott. Poor Jake looked like he was bored and tired, so he was not much of a conversationalist either. Oh well, I am still looking forward to going to the Hungarian restaurant with them, hopefully soon too.

Friday we slept in. We worked on our respective job applications until it was time to go out. We took the tube into the west end and went to China Town for dinner. Then at 7pm we had a date with The Witches! As in Roald Dahl's story, turned into a play, in the West End! Fab it was! They used a variety of media, such as a video screen and puppets, and of course, the delightful Ruby Wax. There were heaps of kids in the audience too, which made it a bit fun. I was very impressed with the puppets. It was a fun way to spend the night really, and it was all over by 8.30pm, so we wandered around Soho for a but looking at the weird weird London people.

Saturday was a busy day. We got up early, and Scott went to the post office to send off a job application. We spent some time in the internet cafe chatting to people online. Then it was home for a quick lunch and out again to catch two tubes to Brixton. Brixton is, or definitely used to be, a rough part of London. It is better, but still a little scarey! We were meeting Judy for 2.30pm, but as we arrived early, we wandered thru the market near the station. It was a lovely spring day with the sun shining, and dead chickens hanging up in the butchers (heads and all, they look like someone took their clothes off!!)

From Brixton, in Judy's car, we went to the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Twas a nice place really. Nice paintings, an exhibition on watercolours for us to view - and all for free too!! We wandered around the Gallery's gardens and in the park across the road admiring the flowers. It is spring over here of course, so all the flowers are out in bloom. I love seeing daffodils, they are so happy. They almost look like they are smiling at me.

We had dinner at Judy's which was lovely. Her son (my 4th cousin) was there too. He works over near us now, so we shall have him over for dinner one night I think.

Sunday. Slept in, and didn't do all that much. Nothing was open anyway!! Sunday night we stood on a street corner and handed out bookmarks advertising an exhibition at a gallery. A really boring job, but it's a bit of extra money, so it's ok.

Monday, we rang Mark, a friend from supermarket days. It was great to hear his voice. It's one of the things I miss, is being able to just pick up the phone and chat to people. It is so expensive to call home from here.

After the phone call, we hopped on the tube and headed over to Bethnal Green. Destination: the Museum of Childhood. A great place really. They have games and toys of every description in cases, as well as dolls houses etc. Dress ups for kids, and giant checkers to play. Fun! From there we took the tube to St Pauls, in the hope of having a look at the place. They were charging 7 pounds to get in, so we gave it a miss. A little expensive! So we just wandered around the City of London. I know that may sound weird, but the area that is actually called the City of London is only one square mile. It is where the financial district is. There is a building there called the Gherkin (well, not it's real name, but that's what it looks like), and we found that. It was fun to take photos of it with a church nearby in the photo from the 1600s.

And that was Easter pretty much.

Just to get something off my chest. I am sick of the girls in my office talking about tv. That's all they discuss! Boring!

Easter long weekend update

Hi peoples

So, it is Easter. I am not quite sure where the year is going!!

Plans for the weekend:

Tonight = drinks with Jake and Sarah and some of their friends.

Friday = sleep in; 7pm going to the theatre to see The Witches, with Ruby Wax as Grand High Witch

Saturday = Meeting Judy, going to the Dulwich Picture Gallery, dinner with her and Gareth

Sunday and Monday = no plans as yet!!

I hope you all have a lovely Easter. Stay safe!

:-)

trains in Paris

I forgot to mention in my post about Paris... that we went on 21 trains in four days.

Just thought I would share.

:-)

Seems like a while since I posted something...

So here goes! What have I been up to? Well, the weekend was a quiet one. We had out National Insurance appointments on Saturday morning. National Insurance here is like social security. We need a number, or are recommended to get one. It serves us no benefit, other than if we want to apply for residency in the future, we are seen to have been doing the right thing all along. Nothing too traumatic, so hopefully we will get our numbers in a month or so.

Saturday afternoon I crashed out. Scott and I went our separate ways in Shepherd's Bush. I went home, while he went to the library to return my books. Good man. :-) I watched a couple of movies, then had a nice nap.

We were going to go out with Jake and Sarah for drinkies, but I felt too sick. I didn't want to sit in a smoky pub for hours and come out feeling worse than ever. It was a pity, because I was really looking forward to seeing them. They are fun, and we got along quite well last time we saw them. We might be catching up for drinks on Friday night, as it is the night before a long weekend. Yay for Christian holidays! :-)

I am looking forward to watching a particular programme on television tonight. There is a documentary on The Iceman (for the uneducated - the 5000 year old man found in the Alps). I was watching the ad for it, and who should pop onto the screen but my former lecturer, the lovely Dr Tom Loy? Yay! All the way on the other side of the world, and I have a connection to my old uni, courtesy of the BBC. :-) I just wish I could tape it, but we only have a dvd player.

I think that's about it for me at the moment. I am feeling a bit better, I have a delightful cough at the moment, but that's the way these things seem to go for me.

Toodles!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday

So, I sent off another job application today. For the Royal Household (ie Buckingham Palace). Should be fun. It's just a three month summer thing, but I applied anyway! I have two more jobs I can apply for - one at the House of Commons, and one at the Museum and Library of the Freemasons (yes, funny I know).

So things are good. I am looking forward to the weekend. I am still sick, so I think I will stay as much of the weekend in bed. Hopefully.

How is everyone? I hope you are all well. I love reading your comments on here, makes me feel loved!

:-)

Weather in London

London is coming into spring time. I am very happy about it too. I am looking forward to the longer days and the warmer weather.

I am still getting over a cold. I was hoping I would get over it by Paris, but I didn't. So I am planning to spend the day in/on bed on Saturday. We have an appointment on Saturday morning to get our national insurance numbers. Very exciting! Not.

I am looking forward to the weekend. Apart from lounging in bed, we should be having dinner with Jake and Sarah on Saturday night all being well. Then on Sunday we are going to an old family friend's house for dinner.

:-)

Not very talkative I'm afraid! :-)

Weird

I don't understand London's weather today. It is

18 degrees

outside.

Weekend in Paris

First of all, I want to say thank you to all of you who wished me happy birthday either by email or through comments on this journal.

My weekend in Paris was great. We caught the Eurostar from London Waterloo to Paris Gare du Nord. It takes less than three hours which is great. We arrived, and then had some llunch at a chinese restaurant outside the station. We bought tickets to Orry La Ville, where Scott's cousins live. We were picked up from the station by Adrienne and Ewan, her four year old. We had a bit of a car tour of the area on the way back to their house. There we met Stuart, who is two and Cam, Adrienne's husband. They are such a lovely family. And the kids are so cute! I am happy Scott got to spend a little time with his family.

On the Saturday, my actual birthday, we were accompanied into Paris by Adrienne. It was great to be able to have a guide with us, to show us the sights. We drove to the Gare du Nord, and parked there. From there we took a metro train to near the artists quarter, to take the Ferniculaire trian up the hill to Sacre Coeur. The views were excellent, as it was a clear day. We took photos, and went inside the basilica itself. There is a huge painting of Jesus on the underside of the dome. It is quite confronting I thought as you walk in. But the rest of the church was pretty, as churches go. We wandered into the artists quarter from there, Montmartre. There are still artists there, but it is a little touristy. Some of the paintings were lovely though, if a little pricey! From there we took the metro to Chatelet, and walked to the Pont Neuf. We took a river cruise on the Seine from there. It lasted an hour, and was very informative. I learnt quite a bit about Paris. The commentary was in French, then in English.

After the cruise, we went into the Latin Quarter, to have lunch. By this time it was 3pm though! We found a little restaurant, and had some yummy french food. I had French Onion soup, a steak with a cheese sauce and then mixed froamges for dessert. Scott had escargot, which were quite nice. They just taste of garlic though. Adrienne told us you can buy snails in a can, and the shells in the French supermarkets. You can also get frozen frogs legs too.

After lunch we headed back to Chantilly. And to my great surprise, they had organised a birthday cake for me. Cam had bought a tart with strawberries on the top, and it came out with candles! Such a nice surprise, and a really sweet gesture too.

Sunday, Scott and I braved Paris on our own. We were both tired, so we did a lot of wandering. We found the Jewish Quarter, and had a good look around. From there we wandered along the Seine to the Musee d'Orsay. Saw some lovely artworks in there. The building itself is great too. It was a railway station, converted to a museum. A real 19th century building with lots of iron, and large clocks too.

Monday we were dropped at the train station early, as Scott's family were heading to Scotland. We went to the Gare du Nord, and put our bag in a locker, so we didn't have to lug it around all day. Then we headed into the Louvre on the Metro. We had to figure out what we wanted to see while were there. We started with the history of the Lourve, and moved on to paintings. We decided that we would see the Mona Lisa, just because everybody raves about it. There were so many people, it was quite a strange experience really. It is small, and dark, and the woman really is unattractive. But I guess the appeal of the painting is in the stories behind it.

As thank you presents, we gave the two kids soft toys. A kangaroo for Stuart and a koala for Ewan. The first thing we heard on Monday morning was "Where's my kangaroo?". So our presents were a great success!!

So, all in all, the trip to Paris was a great one. While we were there, we checked our emails. We got some very good news from two friends. Mickaela, a friend from Melbourne, told us of her engagement. And Maree, my friend from uni, told us she is having her third baby in October. So I want to congratualte them here, and wish them all the best!!

A very short week!

Yep, today is my last day before our weekend in Paris. I am really looking forward to going. Nothing like nicking off to another country for the weekend, right?

I have my Scotty back after he quit. He is a much happier person at the moment, which is fantastic. :-)

Two days til my birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just thought I would share. :-)

Sick

Yep. I am sick today. It's just a virus I know, but I feel awful. I turned up to work today, but I think I will call in sick tomorrow. It's just not worth it.

And besides, I don't want to be sick for the Paris trip do I?

Friday!

Yay, it is 65 minutes until the weekend. My plans? Well, tomorrow Scott and I are headed to the Imperial War Museum. Should be interesting. Then Sunday, we have to find a hotel for the parents to stay in when they are here in May. There are so many hotels in London, so you can imagine...

This time next week I will be in Paris! I am so looking forward to it! A lovely way to spend my birthday, methinks!

Oh I just remembered, I popped into Borders yesterday briefly to get out of the cold on my way to the tube. I had a look at the magazines. There was a mag dedicated entirely to tea (yes Nic, TEA!!). I could go a cup of tea right now actually.....

I had another cd of photos burnt yesterday. So please keep checking the website I gave in an earlier entry for updates!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thurs-Dee

Hello. Well, it is nearly the weekend. Yay! And not long til my birthday! 9 days in fact...... Birthday spent in Paris - spoilt aren't I?

So, Scott officially resigned today. I know he was feeling nervous about it, but happy too. I know he was desperately unhappy in that job, so I am looking forward to getting the old Scotty back again!

Not much other news really.

I have written the phantom house mate off as a total cow. She has been living in our house for a month, and has said maybe 30 words the whole time she has been there. No social interaction. I thought she was just shy at first, now I think she is just rude, and a complete snob. I am really bored with her. I am just happy that we have others in the house we can talk to.

~~~Alex~~~

Wednesday

So, the news of the day is that Scott is going to quit his job. I understand completely. It has been getting him down quite a bit lately, and he is not a happy person. He will hand in his resignation tomorrow. He took the job, as it was the first one he was offered back in December. It was always just a job, never a career move. I feel now that he needs something that he will be happier in, a job in his field.

And besides, we go to Paris for my birthday next weekend, so it will be perfect timing.

Other than that, nothing exciting is happening. Scott will talk to my recruitment agency tonight, and see what they have to offer. The guy there is really nice, I have never met him as I dealt with his partner when I registered. I hope they have something. If not, there are so many recruitment agencies out there, and there is always something.

Ciao!

Tuesday!

Hello. Well, today I have had things to do at work. Lots of forms to process etc. So not a bad day all in all.

I have had time, however, to do some genealogy stuff on the net. I had a search for a ship called the India that my great great great etc grandfather, Walter Herd, came to Australia on. It burned at sea in 1841, and he continuted his journey on a ship called the Grindlay. I was happy to find a whole website on the disaster, which was maintained by a gentleman in Australia whose great etc grandmother was on the ship. Below is the link...

http://www.home.gil.com.au/~bbiggar/india.htm

Looking at the site made me think. If my ancestor had not survived the disaster, would I be here today? Would I be the same person? Interesting to think about really. Because if he did not survive, then his wife would have married someone else. She would not have had my great great grandmother Julia, and so on.

It snowed again today. I made a short movie on my camera, to use up the rest of my memory card. I shall be getting the photos burned on cd this week, and then I will be able to upload more photos and share them with you!!!

45 mins to go!