Jet-Lagged

I don't know whether anyone will be reading this since I'm back in Oz... but anyway! The flights over here were fairly uneventful - long and sleepless, nothing new. But I felt pretty good on arrival and managed to stay awake all day. Michelle, Mum, Alice and Leah were all there to meet me which was awesome:). Everyone looks really well!

So the last couple of days have been pretty busy - did some running around with Michelle on Wednesday after we got back to her place and I unpacked a bit, had a much-desired shower. Wednesday lunch we had at the Fish Cafe and I had an AWESOME ceasar salad, followed by sushi train for din-dins. Yesterday getting my head off the pillow was a very big task. I could have slept all day. Instead, I crawled out of bed at about 10am and got ready for mum's birthday brunch/lunch. We did a bit of shopping at Balmoral and had really nice salads at the Citrus Cafe. From there, I headed back to mum's and had a go at driving for the first time in eight months - scary!! But after going around the block a few times I headed out into traffic and didn't kill anyone, and my confidence was back. Just like riding a bicycle!

In the afternoon we went to my lil sis's school to pick her up - she had been on camp. Their arrival back to the school was later than expected, so mum and I took a trip down memory lane and walked around the campus. I'm so jealous - they're getting a music hall!!! They've made quite a few changes since I was in high school, most of them good.

We headed back to where the busses were pulling in and one arrived which we thought was the grade elevens, so mum and I didn't pay much attention and kept talking. The next thing I know, I hear this 'OH MY GOD!' and see this girl run across the road lugging a bag and pillow and sleeping bag and crash tackle me. Ammie was back! She was so cute, she just kept saying 'Oh my god!' and hugging me and then started crying! SUPER CUTE! According to her, I'm not allowed to go away for that long ever again. Righto. And apparently I'm 'hot with a PH', whatever the hell that means.

In the evening, Mitch picked me up (hooray! He looks awesome!) and we went in search of some speakers and booze (as you do). After helping me to set up said speakers, he toddled off (here's hoping he got home - the car was not well) and Steve and Sam came over, as did Shell and Jeff and Allie, and we all had dinner for mum's birthday. Then it was sleepy time.

THEN I WOKE UP AT 6.30AM!!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THAT?! My body clock is TOTALLY out of whack.

Today mum and I are off to get some more stuff for her party tomorrow night, then she's going to work. I'm going to go for a run/walk by the waterfront (assuming Shadow, Steve's dog, is up to the challenge. She's scared of water), and try and do a few things for the party. Tonight is BOOGIE! We're off to Belushi's to begin with so that I can dance on the podiums (it's been too long!!) and then we'll see how we go from there. I can't wait to see everyone.:)

Tomorrow morning at some ungodly hour I'm going to watch Ammie play hockey, and then get ready for the party. Sunday I might actually have some more time to see friends, you never know! Have to go visit Andy and Maria at their respective Shingle Inns, assuming Maria's still at Indro, set up a hair appointment for my lil sis and pick up my tickets for my flights back to London.

Oh, and apparently I have an accent. Which, according to Mitch, is 'cute', but I understand why I have it - walking around yesterday hearing some of the Aussie women speak really grated on my ear! I'll try and get some photos tonight and put them up here.

Destination: BrisVegas

In just under 6 hours I will be on a plane.


In just over 24 hours I will be in BrisVegas. There is something seriously wrong with how long it takes to get there, not to mention losing 10 hours due to time zones.

But hey! Light at the end of the tunnel, right?

Wheee! Very excited! Just hope I can sleep on the plane... we all know how successful THAT task was on the way over (read: by the time I got to sleep in London, I'd been awake for 36 hours).

See you all soon!

Ashes and Aeroplanes

Well the Ashes is the talk of the town here at the moment, which certainly makes a pleasant change from terrorism and social problems that have become the filler of newspapers.

And, shock horror!, there have been news items on BBC in the morning about THE ENVIRONMENT. Whoa! The world is going completely crazy!!!

In other news, I moved to Jody's place on Sunday which was a bit of an effort. I can't believe how much stuff I've managed to accumulate in the past 8 months. No furniture or anything, just clothes, shoes, make-up, stationery etc etc etc... It was a lot, suffice to say, to fit in Jody's flat. But she's a gem-and-a-half and we've managed to squish it into a corner.

Also, including today, it's only four days left of work before the weekend and then - *drumroll* - I'm on a plane! Hooray!

This weekend is going to be super-busy: Saturday I'm cleaning the flat and trying to go shopping for some last-minute things, and Sunday I'm meeting up with Anna and Alex (finally!). Monday I don't have to be at the airport til 6ish, so I've got the day to do my last-minute washing and packing and things.

And of course, because it's a weekday and I have to be in an office, the weather today is GLORIOUS - 25 degrees and sunny, and tomorrow is going to be 27 degrees. *sigh!* There had better be some sunshine in Oz when I get home! *shakes fist at Mother Nature*

Oh and I'm a bad, BAD godmother/cousin - I know Kaitlin's birthday is August, and I have a feeling it's the 22nd, but I also have a feeling it's the 14th... and then I have the feeling that I actually have no idea. So in spite of this, this is a birthday shoutout:

Happy Birthday Kaitlin!!!!

Bodies, Fictional TV Characters and Nebulae

The last week or so I've been extremely busy at work, trying to get all my stuff done before I head back home. It struck me today just how diverse my workload is, though, after I stopped to think of what I have achieved the last few days. Specifically, I've written about nebulae, arson investigation, Tracy Beaker games, sacred ground, norse Gods, the ABI-310 genetic analyser, Celebrity Killers and revised two interviews.

I really do have the oppotunity to learn a great deal of useless information here!

Anyway, other than that, not much to report. Going to have to push back lunch with Alex and Anna to next week (squeezing it in around cleaning and packing), and my tickets for New York arrived today - finally! - which is pretty cool. It's pretty awesome thinking that last year I spent New Year's Eve in London, this year will be in New York and next year ... well, who knows?:)

I've also started compiling a list of the things I want to do/have/eat when I'm back in Oz. I've got four weeks to achieve the following:

1. A decent ceasar salad - meaning, a salad with EGG, BACON, CROUTONS, SHAVED PARMESAN CHEESE, a DECENT DRESSING, and CHICKEN. You have no idea how horrible the salads are here. Bluuuurgh.
2. Fish and chips - yes, apparently England is famed for its Fish 'n Chips. Don't believe a word of that trollop. The chips are fabulous (dare I say, better that Aussie chips) but the fish is repulsive.
3. STEAK! Medium-rare! - It is impossible to get a decent steak in this country, let alone medium-rare. It's either charcoal or still mooing.
4. Drinks at the Pig n Whistle in the Queen Street Mall.
5. Visit Andy and Maria at their respective Shingle Inn's.
6. Go to Ikea with Mike and Philipa to get their engagement present.
7. Dance on the podiums at Belushi's.
8. Go to Mooloolaba and visit Kerryn.
9. Go swimming IN THE SEA. - I never thought I'd crave that as much as I do.
10. Play with Poppy-Cat.
11. See my little sister play Hockey.
12. See my little bro play footy - and by footy, I mean REAL football (AFL) as oppose to Soccer.
13. Buy a State of Origin jersey - the female version.
14. Buy a Wallabies jersey - again, the female version.
15. Dinner/Breaky at the Fish Cafe with my sis and my bro-in-law.
16. Dinner at Jackpot Noodle with the drinking kids.
17. The RE or the Victory with The Kids.

Notice how a lot of that revolves around drinking/eating? I'll come back here as fat as a house. At least I will have enjoyed myself! After all, that's what holidays are for, right?

Ah, Weekends, How I Love Thee...

This weekend has been very nice - relaxing and yet productive, all at the same time! Friday night I saved money by NOT going out and amusing myself by going to the gym and veging in front of the tellie. Boring, but I was so tired it was all I could be bothered doing.

Saturday morning I ran a few errands before going to Casey's place in Brockley to celebrate her birthday. It was a lovely afternoon of dodgy barbequeing and lots of Pimms. Mmmm, Pimms....

This morning I slept in nicely, before popping down to Clapham Common to relax and play silly games in the park with Casey and her two housemates, Emma and Rachel. It was a great afternoon - I heart Clapham Common so much! It's absolutely HUGE. Think the Botanic Gardens in Brisbane, and quadriple the size. Remove the poncey little gardens, have big green trees, beautiful big lawns and little lakes, and you've got yourself a common. The Wimbledon one is quite big too (no, I have not seen any Wombles yet!). The common at Clapham is a big antipodean hang-out, and today was no different. Lots and lots of people, heaps of Aussie accents floating around. Here are some photos:


Casey! Taken from me lying down...getting up was a whole lot of effort.


Rachel and Casey


Emma. One of the badges on her jacket reads 'Too Cool for School'...I think it's Irish humour;)


Me - again, taken lying down. A very nice position to be in on a nice day!

This evening I started packing up my room in earnest. Still a LOT to do, but much can't be done until next weekend when I actually remove myself from Ricards Road and pop on over to Putney. I'll miss this little flat! But I can't wait to get home and see everyone! Today marked two weeks until I hope on the plane, making it two weeks and two days til I'm back in lil ol' BrisVegas again...

This week holds a LOT of stuff for Melanie to do, including being very busy at work so that all my stuff is done before I leave, and a few other things on the agenda. But, at least if I'm busy, I won't be on the streets causing chaos.:D

A First-Class, One-Way Ticket to Albuquerque

The craziness! Every few days or so they've been upping the number of cops patrolling the streets and railway stations. Today is one of those days - about 6,000 police throughout the city at travel points. Waterloo this morning was interesting. Picture a whole lot of bobbies in their bright yellow jackets walking around, up and down escalators, on trains and off again... and then the ones holding semi-automatic weapons.

You kind of get into this self-concious quandry though, because you can't help but stare at these weapons, but then you don't want to look nervous or dodgy, so you try NOT to look nervous or dodgy and just achieve the complete opposite effect. Luckily I'm a white little girl, so they don't really look on me with suspicion. You end up just feeling very nervy when the apparent aim of this exercise is to make commuters feel more confident and safe!

In other news, last night's netball game went well - we won! We had a new player and she hadn't played for years, and she's a tiny little thing but we had to put her in GK because we don't have enough defense players any more and she didn't really remember the rules. So considering that, she played quite well and we obviously played well enough to win. Got a bit rough though, but that's nothing new:D.

This weekend it's Casey's birthday BBQ which should be rockin', and there's also been a few other birthdays this week, so a shout out to:

JODY - Happy Birthday!

MIKE - Happy Birthday!

CASEY - Happy Birthday!

And yesterday marked three weeks til I'm back in Oz, so it's now 2 weeks, 6 days til I touch down in good ol' BrisVegas. Can't wait!