A quick summary of recent events

Gosh, it has been quite a while since I posted on here.

Things have been crazy busy lately. I spent Christmas down the coast with the family, saw in the new year with my closest friends and some awesome tunes, danced in the torrential rain at Sunset Sounds, survived the flood and helped others with the clean up, worked long hours in the emergency Flood Communications team when I returned to work, and rocked Australia Day with snags and swims and cider yesterday.

So now that we've caught up, blogging can return to normal! *crowd cheers*

Song of the day: Friend of the Devil

Today's song of the day is The Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil".

According to Wikipedia... The music was written by Jerry Garcia and John Dawson and the lyrics are by Robert Hunter. "Friend of the Devil" is about an outlaw, on the run from the police. His crime is never explicitly stated. The Devil helps him escape, but winds up chasing him just as the law does; several lines of the song are ambiguous, and could refer to either law enforcement or servants of Satan, such as "I was trailed by twenty hounds", which could refer to either police dogs sniffing his trail, or mythical hellhounds.

Being young and impressionable, I grew up listening to the music that my brother and sister liked, and how vastly different their tastes were! Jackie liked Icehouse and Kylie, Michael liked The Grateful Dead, The Doors, and The Pogues. As a result, I have a rather ecclectic taste in music.

Set out runnin' but I take my time, a friend of the devil is a friend of mine, if I get home before daylight, I just might get some sleep tonight...

G'day!

Rest assured that I wasn't abducted by the fat man in red, but have been busy Christmasing and New Yearsing and familying and so haven't had time to blog.

But I shall get back on soon and tell you all about:

• How my mother has reset my body clock to wake up at 6:30am every day for Fat Farm
• The fact that I have a tan!
• The way my two year old niece, Darcy, struts around like she owns the joint
• How I was "that" drunken Aunty on Christmas day
• My 4 year old nephew, Joe, who kicks my arse at Mario Kart
• My desire to become a member of every surf club, bowls club and RSL on the Gold Coast
• Oh, and that two week Wild European Vacation I've already forgotten about

Kaybye!

Second thoughts

I may be having second thoughts about moving home at Christmas, and these are keeping me awake at night.

When I left Australia in April 2008 I was moving to the unknown – no job, no where to live, not many friends, no family, no real idea what I was doing.

Moving back home in December this year is sort of the same.

I am worried about finding a job. While my CV boasts a fantastic job progression with The Government Agency, I don’t know what the market is like in Australia and if any potential employers would be impressed with that experience.

I am worried about living on the Gold Coast, so far away from all of my friends in Brisbane. This is also worrying if I do get a job, because how am I going to get there, so…

… I am worried about how I am going to get around. The public transport system in London is fantastic, there really isn’t any need to have a car (apart from if you want to buy a watermelon at the supermarket). I don’t want to have to always ask my parents for a lift, so I will have to look at buying a car when I get back.

I am worried about money, because I haven’t really saved much money while I have been here. I’ve been making good money, but have been spending it on holidays to Croatia and Europe, dinners in the dark, music festivals, dresses from Joy, PowerPlate sessions at the gym, and having fun with my friends.

I am worried that I am going to be bored in Brisbane, and warn you all that you had better be prepared to entertain me. I used to do a whole lotta nuthin in Brisbane, but plan to change that, so you will all get dragged along to dinners, road trips, mini golf, markets, football games, and the such.

Please assure me that things are going to be okay?

"So he tells me his last year, and what he'd like to change, I say to get down to the beach and to give us a call, he hears nothing at all, so he sits there all alone, waiting for that golden sun in the Morning Light, just let go, just let go, last year's gone so leave it all behind”
Sparkadia, Morning Light

Observations of driver

Four and a half hours is 270 minutes. That is a very long time to be in a car by yourself. Driving for nine hours in a 36 hour period will make you slightly crazy, will result in you talking to the radio, and will make you hate your own company.

British radio is rubbish, absolutely rubbish. The reception was patchy and the selection was poor. The worst part was, once I got back near London and the stations started getting a little better they all simulcast the Big Top 40 and all they played was freakin Michael Jackson. If I don’t hear another MJ song for 20 years I will be happy. The only saving grace was chancing upon Keane’s “Somewhere only we go” as I drove into Hertz to return the car.

Unlike Australia, there are not many red cars in England. The most popular colours are metallic silver and blue.

Like in Australia, there are plenty of idiots in England that don’t know how to merge or overtake.

Did you know that the symbol ^ is called a chevron? I found this out because these were painted on the road and there was a sign telling me to keep two chevrons in between me and the car in front. However, this caused massive traffic problems for the two miles that they had painted chevrons on the road, and then everyone went back to driving with common sense and the traffic sorted itself out.

Roads in England are crazy. Back home, if you want to go to Sydney you get on the freeway and go there, or if you want to go to Townsville you get on a freeway and go there, or if you want to go to Toowoomba you get on a freeway and go there. You get my drift. In London, if you want to go to York you have to get on a freeway, then another, then another, then six others, then you get there. If it wasn’t for my £14 a day sat nav I would still be driving circles around Heathrow wondering how to get the hell out of there.

But the drive was worth it to see Great Aunty Ana and Great Uncle George, and I had a great time visiting them. It’ll probably be a couple of months before I can handle being stuck with myself for company again though…


“Oh, simple thing, where have you gone? I'm getting old and I need something to rely on, so tell me when, you're gonna let me in, I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin, and if you have a minute why don't we go, talk about it somewhere only we know? This could be the end of everything, so why don't we go, somewhere only we know, somewhere only we know?”
Keane, Somewhere Only We Know

It's my party

Thank you to everyone for making the second anniversary of my 25th birthday so fabulous!

I had a fantastic party in the beer garden at Elk Bar on Saturday attended by my eclectic mix of friends. It was a gathering of about five different groups of my friends and I was really chuffed that everyone came along.

Despite being away from my family and not being a fan of birthdays, my actual birthday was wonderful. The phone calls, presents, text messages, photos, emails, more presents, flowers and helium balloons were amazing, and I was truly spoiled.

My birthday was topped off by a fantastic dinner with my closest friends in London, where there was even chocolate cake with a candle and that unavoidable happy birthday song.

A massive thank you to everyone for making it was one of the best birthdays ever. In the words of Jeff Fenech, I love youse all!

D-amanda

I have to admit that I am starting to miss my life back home.

I want to go to family dinners every second Monday night. They used to be the highlight of my week.

I want to take more weekend trips up to Townsville to visit Jackie, Mark, James, Ben and Darcy. And I want to get James drunk.

I want to take Isaac and Joe out once a month for an adventurous outing, to somewhere like the Science Museum, you know, things that I really want to do.

I want to get Broncos season tickets for me and dad.

I want to have a girly day with mum, where we get our pedicures and I go shopping with her and try not to complain.

I want regular Wednesday night dates with Jaala.

I want to have a blow up mattress at Nathan’s new apartment so that I can stay there whenever I feel like it.

I want to go to mini golf at Victoria Park with Scoot Scoot, and make stupid jokes that only he and I laugh at. Or say the same joke at the same time that only he and I laugh at.

I want to play Game of Life with Matt and Lindy and whinge if I don’t get to be the Rockstar.

I want to go back to my regular pilates class, where all the middle aged people kicked my butt.

I want to lose the extra five kilos that I only seem to have in London. I lost a lot of it in the four weeks when I was home at Christmas – I’m naturally skinnier in Australia.

I want to ride my awesome bike, Tequila Sunrise.

I want to have the natural tanned glowing skin that I have in my drivers licence photo.

I want to wear high heels again.

I want to be able to drive a car, and listen to the radio, especially Triple J and Triple M.

I want a permanent job, where I get paid for sick days, public holidays, and annual leave.

I want to go grocery shopping wherever I want, rather than the supermarket that is closest because I have to walk home with my groceries.

I want to see more of Australia.

I want to be there for birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, school fetes, and new babies.

I want to come home at Christmas…


“I want today, I want tomorrow, I want to wear 'em, Like braids in my hair and I don't want to share 'em. Don’t care how, I want it now”
I Want it Now, Veruca Salt

Leaving home and arriving home

I fell off the blog train while I was home over Christmas and in the personal company of my readers, so now that I am back in the United States of England I promise that there will be more regular updates.

It was extremely difficult leaving this time, even more so than when I first left in April. I cried countless times in my last five days at home, and was even crying more than my mum when I said goodbye at the airport. However that came in handy when I was not just overweight but morbidly obese with regards to hand luggage. The lady felt sorry for me and my red face and puffy eyes and let me go. He he he! Just a warning - if I end a phone call with a squeaky “good bye” it’s because I am being a sooky la la and am crying again, so just ignore it.

London did it’s best to ease my transition back. Thursday wasn’t too cold and I didn’t have to wait too long for the bus ride, which took me on the scenic route from Chelsea to Waterloo via Sloane Square with the pretty fairy lights in the bare-branch trees and the towering Westminster Abbey. Then, after being at my desk for 10 minutes my manager offered to extend my contract – an extremely fantastic thing given the doom and gloom of the credit crunch. The upside of the CC is that everywhere is having sales at the moment, with lots of restaurants offering 2-for-1 meals and Ryan Air massively discounting flights. Colleagues stopped by my desk throughout the day to say hello, and my personal email inbox was full with silly banter from my London friends. All of this reminded me why I moved to London, so I’ve decided to harden the fuck up and enjoy it! (Apologies for the swearing mum)

Though I am totally ignoring my father's parting advice that the girl with the most handbags doesn't always win, because she does dad, she does!

I promise more adventures and blog posts soon…


"Wish I was taking you with me, no more goodbyes, no more goodbyes, tell me to stay home"
Leaving the City, Roisin Murphy

Kids say the darndest things

The things I miss most about home are my family and friends, though I try to email or call as often as I can.

I love getting emails from my nephews Isaac and Joseph. Natalii, my most darling sister-in-law, types what the boys say verbatim, which makes for some highly entertaining reading. Especially last night when I got two emails – one from Isaac and one from Joe.

Isaac’s email had a background of rainbows, which he said he sending to me to help keep me happy. It made me so happy I actually got a little teary.

Joe’s email had a pirate background, and he told me about how he had been playing UNO and had fire money. Nat, what on earth is fire money! Then he went on to tell me that he wanted ping pong balls for Christmas! I laughed so hard even more tears came out.

After this I called Jackie on Skype and had a little chat to Ben about what he would like for Christmas. In case anyone doesn’t know yet (though I don’t think there are many people that Ben hasn’t told) he would like a guitar. This is better than when mum asked what Ben would like her to bring him back from England and he asked for a wrench and a coconut!

Oh boys, you make me laugh!