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!