Sydney is actually going pretty fabulously. I  have really begun to appreciate the city more – its bejewelled beaches, its leafy streets, its smart casual sensibility, its diversity. The fact that each suburb has a different ‘feel’ and that there are layers and layers to pull back from the city – once you get over the traffic woes (and the occasional smattering of new-moneyed be-Rolexed wankers).

Christmas was lovely – my Mum came down from Brisbane and we spent Christmas Eve having a lovely dinner at one of the local Italian restaurants. Christmas morning saw us at the beach – Pittwater to be exact for a brekkie of Bircher museli, eggs, bacon, fruit and bread. The rest of the day was relaxed with yummy food, bubbles and down time. New Year’s was spent at K’s (a lovely friend who has just moved from Brisbane). Other friends were down from Brisbane and we cooked up a storm with Singapore Chilli Crab, Chilli Garlic Prawns, Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb, Uber German potato salad (my contribution) and a mint, pine nut and feta pea salad (another contribution). We then desserted on my friend M’s delicissimo blueberry pie. Amaze-o-rama!

As you can imagine, much indulgence has its downsides (weight gain for one). I have been doing Weight Watchers for most of this year and have managed to hold a 6 kilogram loss since the start of 2011. It’s not that impressive but slowly and surely does it. It was back to WW meetings this morning. Boy, was the room packed! A lot of people wanting to work off the Christmas excess! Otherwise had a brilliant day by myself – did the grocery shopping, a few household chores then had a blissful few hours with the paper, my pile of holiday books and notebook. I then used a Christmas voucher that I received from Tom at my favourite homewares shop in Crows Nest. I selected another Circa candle – these beautiful candles have the most heavenly scents! I previously had the Mango Papaya and today I got the Jasmine Magnolia. Loving the beautiful fragrance wafting through the studio right now! I also got a lovely wooden ornament of a couple embracing to make a heart shape. It sounds a bit naff but pictures attached to hopefully dispel such thoughts!

Tonight, Tom, K and I are heading into the City for the First Night of the Sydney Festival. We will go to The Domain to watch Manu Chao and also Washington play. Last year we watched Los Lobos (band who are famous for the song La Bamba) play and it was truly magical. The sun was setting on a beautiful Sydney day, the air was golden, people were smiling everywhere and it had such a good vibe. Hoping for similar tonight!

I am really loving life at the moment – there is so much to look forward to! I have a few goals but won’t post them here as yet (I have posted many goals on this blog before and have never achieved half of what I have set out to do which must be very amusing for anyone reading). After all, goals don’t mean much without action.

Here’s a couple of pics from the last few months. Will post again soon!

So things are puttering along pretty well. Got through my first year of uni practically unscathed and with good marks. Still loving living with Tom in our cute little studio in a great neighbourhood. Did some lovely holidays to the Hunter Valley, back to Brisbane and the big one, New Zealand in December.

But if I am honest, I don’t really *LOVE* Sydney. It’s a pretty place with its dazzling harbour and often brilliant blue skies over sandy beaches. But the vibe of the place is a little – I don’t know – shallow, busy, superficial. I guess  I am just a bit sick of Aussie culture and its insane/inane obsession with interest rates, what the RBA is doing, property prices, etc. Maybe I have selective memory, but there certainly isn’t such a national obsession with such things in the UK or Europe (well, The Netherlands at least).

But what makes me more annoyed is the fact that I suffer from such a case of “The Grass Is Greener” syndrome. I pined for Australia at times while in the UK (especially near the end and in winter) but now I find myself longing for the culture of Europe and UK. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing our Aussie friends and family but they are all in Brisbane really so sometimes it can feel a little lonely in Sydney when you are so close but so far from the ones you love. I have made a few friends through uni and Tom through work. And of course it takes time to build friendships and if I am honest, I haven’t “put myself out there” to meet new people.

Despite my complaining/whingeing (what’s new)…I think the decision to move to Sydney was the right one. We just have to make the most of the positives and play down the negatives. (I mean, gosh, we are so very privileged to live the life we do when so many people never get the chance). Hmm, maybe this blog is good for that…if I have a big spew out about whingey things it makes me see what a nong I am being and bring some perspective to the situation! Lose-win!

On a lighter note, we have some friends heading down from Brisbane next weekend for a trip to the Hunter Valley! Yay! Should be very fun! I am back to uni this week and I have been looking forward to that for ages (remind me of this thought when I am struggling to finish 3 assignments in 1 night).

I also might have some more work as a medical receptionist at a clinic near uni. My 4 hours a week as a medical typist really isn’t cutting it financially so it would be a boon to get some more work hours that fit in with uni. We have essentially been living off one income here in Sydney. I didn’t think it would be possible, but we have managed this year to do so and still enjoy many luxuries like eating out and running a car.

I also tried yoga for the first time last week. It was amazing despite my inflexible body finding it quite tough. Afterwards, I felt like I was walking on a cloud – so light! So I finally tried yoga after talking about it for so long and it was fantastic. Must do more of this…you know, doing rather than talking!

Anyways, I’ll leave this disjointed post at that and hopefully will get my posting groove back to write a little more smoothly in the near future! Cheers!

To start off on a very sad note, we lost my grandfather Alfred on Saturday, 22 May. He was 93 and an inspirational man. He was in very good health up until the last year or so where he slowly began to deteriorate. My grandmother and Alf’s daughter Helen cared for him for a long time at home and he only spent a small amount of time at hospital at the end, which I’m sure is just the way strong, independent Alf would have wanted it. He was born in rural NSW and was a typical farm boy and keen sportsman who dealt with snakes bare-handed and who scored many a try one-handed. He fought in WWII and was a prisoner of war at Changi. Yet the horrors he experienced there never made him bitter or hateful of life. He had a reputation as a larrikin but always had such an incredible “strength” about him – both physical and mental.

Tom and I flew up to Brisbane for the funeral. It was an incredibly sad day but being with all the family helped us to remember Alf and to support each other and Grandma through this really difficult time. Grandma is constantly in my thoughts these days. There have been a few losses this year which have been very difficult to deal with. I sometimes wish I was a little closer so I could drop around for a cuppa and “just be there” with her. My brother gave a wonderfully poignant speech about Alf at the funeral and Helen also spoke some very moving words. There were many tears and a few chuckles.  I am so glad we were able to go to Brisbane for it. To say goodbye to Alf was very hard. Vale Alfred.

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On a completely different note, uni classes are finished for the semester and we are on the road towards exams. 5 of them. Argh!!! On a happy note, I got my psychology essay back and I got 97% which I was absolutely over the moon about! I also got 91% on my biology report which was most pleasing! I did however fail my Biostatistics and Calculus quizzes ( Thankfully the average for both was a fail mark (5/12) so am counting on that bell curve! I probably do need to get more of a move on with my study though – I’ve spent a lot of time with Chemistry so far and nothing else. I gotta focus!

Oh and in wonderful news, Tom did brilliantly well in his half marathon!!! I am so proud of him! He ran a time of approximately 1 hour 45 mins and finished around 2200 out of 8000 runners! Not bad for his first ever run event! It was a very early start to go watch him but I am so glad I did. I ran around the course to catch some glimpses of him and got a couple of pics of Maratom! Afterwards, we met up with some of Tom’s colleagues who also ran in the race for some drinks and lots of food. Actually, that was a marathon effort in itself - did not feel well the next day!

But in terms of the “Look Amazing” campaign, I was inspired by Tom’s efforts and have signed up for the City2Surf which is on in August. I’ve got about 9 weeks of preparation ahead. Now I am in terrible shape at the moment, so have to be realistic about how I am going to go. I’ve drawn up a training plan (with the help of Tom) and am hoping it will enable me to finish the race with me jogging more than halfway and maybe briskly walking the rest. I am actually really looking forward to working towards this goal.  We started off yesterday morning with a very brisk walk for an hour around the track which will be my “training route”. Now, hoping for no injuries!

I have also started on a pill which should help my skin and I’m sure increased exercise levels will help in that respect too! So next things to do are to sign up with a yoga class in the area. The only thing is that our funds are a little limited at the moment and we need to change our car registration from QLD to NSW! So once pay day comes around, I am going to go along for a trial class. Will help with the stress of exams I am sure!

Oh and in very very exciting news, we have a load of visitors planned for December. Tom’s lovely mother and her partner Jan are going to meet us in New Zealand for a wonderful 2 week holiday in the beginning of December. We are then going to Brisbane for a couple of days for Christmas where Tom’s sister will join us and then we will head back to Sydney for New Year’s Eve where Tom’s friend Arjan will arrive as well! So yes, our little studio is going to be one heaving joint! But I am sure we will manage! I realllly cannot wait for New Zealand. Hiking, long walks, good wine, good food, fresh air, mountains and good company! Should be lovely!

Things are really pootling along well here in Sydney. I actually really like living here. I’ve said it before, but living in a nice neighbourhood in a nice place really helps. We are so close to loads of shops, restaurants and cafes. The bus is a 1 minute walk from our door and it only takes about 10-15 minutes to get into the centre of Sydney. We have been for a number of walks to the Rocks and the harbour from home (takes around an hour but a very pleasing walk over that famous coathanger bridge!). Life is good at the moment!

Oh and I did finally go brunette and am loving it! It’s nice to have a change and not worry about regrowth 2 weeks after getting my hair done! Yay! Found a good neighbourhood salon that is not too exhorbitant so double ticks!

Okay so here are some pics. More will follow in next post!

Oh and I apologise to Sarah and Phil who commented on my last post and I never got back to….your advice and lovely words are always appreciated. In fact Phil’s blog and her attitude to life are uber inspiring and I am constantly motivated by those gold nuggets of info and advice that she so eloquently dispenses! Thanks Phil!

OK, off to uni to meet up with a friend and lament about our study woes!

I was able to cross some things off my “Look Amazing” list the past couple of days:

• I got the Trilogy Rose Hip Oil – have just started using the past 2 nights. Already have noticed how smooth it makes my skin feel – just hope it doesn’t clog my pores too much!
• I bought some small portion control plates so have started eating less in the evening
• I went for a 45 minute run/walk on Sunday morning – it was such a nice way to start the day!
• I have an appointment with the University Health Service doctor tomorrow – am hoping to get some medication to help my skin!

Uni is going well. This week is less crazy than last week but I am beginning to feel a little burnt out. I missed some lectures last week because I had to finish off some assignments and now feel like I am playing “catch up” with all the missed content – especially Chemistry and Calculus. Actually, I constantly feel like I am playing catch-up – fighting fires instead of getting on top of the game. Although, at the Mature Aged Student seminar I attended during Orientation, they warned that we may have to reassess our expectations if we find we are struggling – which we are wont to do, apparently! All those balls we juggle can come crashing down. Although, I must say, I have it pretty easy. No children or long work hours to juggle with uni. Though 5 Science subjects are pretty tough – thank heavens it will drop to 4 subjects next year (and no maths!).

So, really am thinking I will go down the brunette path. The next issue is to find a good hairdresser in Sydney that will not cost the earth (hopefully student discount) and will do a good job. Yah, asking a little too much there, right? I am actually looking forward to the change. As Lulu says, a change is as good as holiday!

Tom is running in his half marathon this Sunday. Poor thing is not feeling tip top this week though so we are hoping for a swift recovery before the race. He has to be at the start line by 7:00am so will be an early start!! I think he will go brilliantly though and I look forward to welcoming him at the finish line. I wonder what meal I should cook for him the night before – probably something quite carbohydrate-rich!

Alright, that’s it for now!

To be frank, starting uni with many young beautiful females has got me feeling like an ugly, bitter, old crone. I’ve regained the weight I lost in London on Weight Watchers and I really can’t use the excuse that “I’ve been on holidays in Europe and Thailand and just had a good time” anymore – it’s been 7 months after all. It’s time to get real. Not harsh. But real. Either I can get to 25 and think about how much happier I would be if I were 15kgs lighter. Or I can actually do something NOW! And yah, I’ve said this before. Been there, blogged that, ate the doughnut. This is not about the number on the scale. Or the size on the jeans (those these are nice markers, to be sure). This is about incorporating the activities and behaviours into my everyday life that will contribute to making me FEEL good, FEEL healthy, FEEL vital and which will ultimately, make me LOOK good, healthy and vital too. Which of course = amazing!

So 27 weeks. Your time, starts now.

What behaviours will I start for Week 1:

• 20 minute jog tomorrow (Sunday) through Crows Nest to Naremburn/Atarmon) and Pilates session
•  Ensure I reach 1.5L of water intake per day
• Cut down caffeine to one small skim latte a day and then green tea after that (have turned into a total skinny latte addict and have downed 3 x day a couple of times this week!)
• Buy a small entree sized plate to use for evening meal – halve evening meal portions
• 20 minute jog on Tuesday to North Sydney
• Incorporate 10 minutes meditation each day to cope with uni stress
• Buy Trilogy Rose Hip Oil to help rehydrate skin! (have read about 5 raves for the stuff in the past weeks or so, so am very keen to try!)
• See doctor about my skin (damn hormonal acne – I thought this was finished after the teens?) and some weird moles

To be honest, my diet isn’t terrible at the moment. I don’t buy junk food, sweets or takeway. And our meals are full of vegetables and not too much fat. But portion control is creeping up. And my exercise levels have plummeted at a time when they would really help with stress levels. There are a number of yoga centres in the area which I will enquire into. I don’t have a lot of cash to spare for classes, so if these turn out to be too ‘spensive, then perhaps a DVD might be a good idea?

I’m also thinking about doing something drastic to my hair. I’ve been dying it blonde since I was 12. And if I’m honest, the blonde colour is something I cling to as I think it makes me look better than my natural mousy brown colour. But I am getting sick of the regrowth and damage (not to mention the price!). I’d love to have a glossy brunette mane, but I’m scared if I try it and hate it, I won’t be able to go blonde again. Argh. I know, a stupid thing to be “scared” about.

This blog is a petty one. I know there are a billion things more important than vainities and appearances. I just wanted to indulge the subject for a bit. Because after all, when we feel good, we generally do good. And that’s all good, right??

xxx

• Psychology essay on false and recovered memories of child abuse
• Study for chem quiz on enthalpy and stochiometry
• Statistics assignment due
• Biology presentation on hypothyroidism
• Chem lab report on enthalpy reactions
• plus all the usual readings and work to try and keep up!

It’s a struggle but am loving learning all this new stuff. And hopefully am becoming a more critical thinker in the process.

Had a busy couple of weekends as well with Kylie and Kasper down to stay from Brisbane – had such a fun time with them both and Nicole last weekend. We had an explore around The Rocks, some lovely cocktails at Opera Bar and a yummy dinner out at a local Italian. On Sunday we had more walks around Darling Harbour and dinner at a local Thai which was pretty amazing.

Last night,  Tom and I went to a Koninginnedag (sp?) celebration in the city with some colleagues from Tom’s work. This is the Dutch National Day in honour of the Queen which is basically an excuse to drink, eat Dutch snacks and wear orange. Since orange is a difficult colour to coordinate or match (and not the most flattering for most complexions), I had to do a last minute scrounge around Chatswood for some Oranje! Ended up with quite a nice orange floaty scarf and orange oval cocktail ring. Not too bad for $18! I met some of Tom’s colleagues and they were all very nice. Good to meet some Sydney people! Unfortunately, I had too much red wine and ended up with a terrible headache today which prevented my “All Action Productive Work Day” to be more like “Curled Up Under the Duvet Day”. Damn! Not a time to waste time!

Anyways, the title of this blog is to do with my determination to get back into the healthy mindframe. I’ve let myself slip out of some good habits since moving to Sydney. Namely that of planned exercise a number of times a week. My diet is also a bit off. I don’t buy rubbish to pick on, but my portions are creeping up and sometimes I get so hungry I eat mindlessly when I get home instead of preparing a meal and sitting down to it. So no more of that! We have 2 weeks alcohol free in the lead up to Tom’s half marathon so that should help on the health front. I will sign up for the City 2 Surf in August as well. Need a motivating tool to start running!!

Oh and in good news, I got the job with the medical surgery down the road. So I’ve been doing around 4 hours a week there so far which works out really well. The people at the surgery are very nice and I find the work quite interesting.

In sad news back home, my Grandfather Alfred is not doing so well with his health. He is in hospital after he rapidly deteriorated over the last couple of weeks. He has Alzheimer’s and some tumours in his brain. Alfred is such a tough man though that he is still fighting. He was a Prisoner of War in Changi in WWII and he used to tell my brother and I amazing stories of life in the camps, how the prisoners used to play pranks on the guards and his time in the steamy jungles of south east Asia. My thoughts are also with my Grandma and Aunty Helen who have done so much to make Alf so comfortable in the past few weeks. They are amazing and strong women and so inspirational in how they take on life’s challenges with such grace and dignity.

On that note, I might leave it at that. Will write again soon.

xx

Can you believe I have just finished 5 weeks of uni?! I know that it’s such a cliche but time is literally supersonically speeding past – April already!!!!!!! Uni is…hmmm…it’s great and I’m getting a lot out of it. It’s also so much harder going back than I thought it would be. When I was a wee whippersnipper I used to laugh at all the naff Mature-Aged students we’d have in our classes. You know, the ones who would spin around with a stormy frown at anyone who would talk in lectures. Or those who would accost the lecturers/tutors with questions at the end of class. OK, so I’m not THAT bad…but by gosh the other students seem so YOUNG at 17.  I guess when you are Mature-Aged (hee hee, I’m Mature-Aged at 24!) and you get a second chance at uni, you really are going to make the most of it and the last thing you have patience for are the wee small ones making pains of themselves!

And at the risk of sounding REALLY old/fuddy-duddy, my God, what some of the girls wear at uni is amazing/terrifying. We’re talking ripped denim shorts that barely cover the buttocks, teamed with knee high boots and low cut singlets. I just don’t understand the high-panting  denim short-short trend (with gladiator sandals) either…sweetheart, if you ain’t Kate Moss, you ain’t gonna pull it off! Oh well, the perils/joys of being young and having a good enough body to wear such things…good on them I suppose!

But yeah back to Uni…Calculus is a bit of a bitch. Having to relearn all my Year 12 maths, along with new material has been, ahem, fun.  As has Chemistry. We started out well but now the subject is really ramping up…hopefully I can keep up! Pyschology is fascinating, but the other 2000 students doing the subject think so too. And I love Human Biology but it is very content heavy! So I am absolutely loving using my brain more (it’s literally been hurting from all the work it’s been doing) and I’ve realised just how much my brain/thought processes have atrophied over the past few years. It’s hard work getting it going again but so worthwhile. I really feel I am finding my niche more and more. 

Some insane Chemistry lecturer yesterday claimed that uni students should be doing 60 hours of study a week. Yeah, I don’t think so Al! Mind you, I’m finding I have to do MUCH more work to keep up in a Science degree than a Business/CI double degree.  Thankfully I have next week off to catch-up. Am really trying to get as much out of the way so I won’t have an end-of-semester stress meltdown.

OH OH! I’ve missed out on the biggest news. We’re in our new place!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That apartment I mentioned in my last post – you know the one in Crows Nest described as “funky NY loft-style apartment”? Well, we saw, we loved, we took! And we’re very happily nested now! We moved in 2 weeks ago and the whole process was pretty smooth. We were especially fortunate to have my lovely family send down OODLES of stuff. We’re talking 7 boxes that have pretty much furnished our whole place – fridge, washing machine, couches, dining suite, kitchen appliances plus loads of crystal glassware and oven dishes etc. It was like 7 Christmases at once….opening box after box and un-Bubblewrapping item after item. So many thanks must go to my lovely Mum and grandparents were so utterly generous in helping Tom and I out!

Tom and I did have some fun times at IKEA. We bought a great bedframe for our new AWESOME mattress (most comfy bed I’ve ever slept in), plus a TV unit, laundry hamper, laundry airer, some lamps and side tables. So we are kitted out! The place is ALMOST acceptable for me to take some pics and post on here! But oh boy IKEA is so much fun. We celebrated on our moving weekend with some meatballs at IKEA. We did the same thing in London when we moved into our fab apartment in Hammersmith. So I said to Tom we should make it our moving ritual. Meatballs at IKEA. Hah!

Tom is going really well in Sydney too. It’s such a short commute for him to the office in Chatswood and seems like he has some really friendly people he is working with! He’s played soccer, had a poker night and will be running a half marathon in June with some colleagues. The job he’s doing is great for now but not something he wants to do forever. But it would fit in really well with some extra study which he is hoping to do. So I’m really happy that Tom is happy!

Am still looking for a job that will fit in with Uni. I had an interview the other day at a medical specialist surgery which is like a 2 minute walk from home for me. It’s for a medical typist position so am crossing my fingers it will work out! There are a number of dieticians and psychologists that work there so having some exposure to the field would be incredibly advantageous.

Other than that, Tom has Saturday and Sunday off so we are going to have a proper explore around Sydney. No doubt I’ll finally take some pictures and get them posted on here.

I’ll leave it at that for now…so a lot has been happening. But not a lot that is interesting – to write about anyway.

xxxx

• Giving notice at my work wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought. The doctor and practice manager were so nice about it and even called some contacts in Sydney to see if they were looking for anyone to work casually! It’s the first job I’ve really enjoyed and I had to leave after a couple of months – boo hoo!
• We had a big job of packing up all our stuff at the family home but we managed to squeeze a lot into the Excel – namely 4 boxes, a large suitcase, 2 x backpacks, an assortment of handbags and shoes, an overnight bag, a laptop bag, a football, and various bits and bobs tucked in around the edges.
• We set off for Sydney at around 10.30am on Monday 15 Feb. Our aim was to get to Port Macquarie for the night where we had a nice WotHotel (mystery hotel) booked for the evening. Everything was quite smooth sailing with nice weather (mind you, it got quite oven-like in the unairconditioned Excel!). We had a bite in Ballina but it was after that that things turned a little awry. Firstly, there seemed to be a quite odd vibration shaking the car. At first I thought it was the surface of the road, but it got worse and worse. Tom could feel it through the steering wheel as well. Soon, the whole dashboard, rearview mirror and side mirrors were vibrating and shaking violently. We stopped at a small petrol stand in a town called Ulmurra just outside of Grafton. We inspected the car, namely the tyres. Tom poked and proded. I peered and pointed. We then drove the car to a couple of backstreets where we took turns driving it past each other to see if one could see anything untoward. Things just didn’t seem right so we decided to brave the 13km drive to Grafton where there would be a service centre. THAT was nerve-wracking. Tom didn’t drive over 80km/hr the whole way and was sweating a lot! We both were very quiet. As our luck would have it, we spotted a service centre as soon as we got into town. They were so kind to us – a mechanic hoisted the Excel up on a rack thing and promptly confirmed “lumps on both the back tyres”. This means the tyres were ripe for exploding – not the kind of thing you want when doing 110km/hr on the winding Pacific Highway! We must have been lucky that day for right next door was a Michelin Tyre Centre. They said they could fit two new tyres right away – so we waited for about 40 minutes in their airconditioned waiting room and after paying the $280 bill, we were on our way again. Alas, a storm hit around Coffs Harbour and quite a nasty one at that with plenty of fork lightning and extremely heavy rain. But it had cleared by the time were puttered into Port Macquarie.
• Tom had been a darling and upgraded our room for Valentine’s Day so we had some chilled sparkling wine waiting for us on our arrival. We freshened up in the airconditioned comfort of our lovely room and then went downstairs to the restaurant. I’d read good things about the food on some review sites and my was it scrummy! We had a salt and pepper calamari on an Asian salad with ginger and coriander dipping sauce to start (with some hot damper and herb butters as well!). For main, Tom had rib fillet on the bone in a peppercorn sauce with roasted potatoes and a garden salad. I had rack of lamb on a celeriac and apple mash with a port wine reduction – it was SO GOOD!!! I just love celeriac and apple together and am totally going to try and recreate this in the kitchen sometime! We had a nice red wine with the meal and finished with a coffee.
• The next morning we left after a breakfast of mudcake, lemon tart and coffee (we had received free cake and coffee vouchers as part of the package and had not had time to use them – eh, why not breakfast?? My hips were screaming NOOOOO!). It was a pretty straightforward drive to Sydney and we arrived around 3pm. As we were driving through Chatswood, we got a call on the phone from M, the guy whose place we are subletting for the month. We found this chap through CraigsList and we were hoping it wouldn’t turn out to be a scam! He gave us some directions and we found our way into Waterloo/Redfern.
• M is a very interesting chap – an older, gay gentleman who works part-time at a medical methadone clinic and had to warn us about his collection of gay porn stashed around the place. He’s off to Rio for a month so that gives us time to suss out where we want to live. It’s a good size for the two of us but can’t say I like the area around too much. It’s pretty grimy and doesn’t seem to have too much cafe culture in the immediate surroundings. But the place is comfortable and convenient.
• Tom and I have spent the weekend driving to various spots in Sydney to figure out where we want to look for a place. The winner is Crows Nest. We had a lovely walk around there on Saturday morning. It has a buzz without being really busy and it’s very convenient transportation wise. We’ve found a place through Gumtree to have a look at and we are keeping our fingers crossed it might work out – even though the rent is on the higher end of our budget!
• We also visited Neutral Bay, Cremorne, St Leonards, Chatswood, Rozelle, Balmain and did a drive to Bondi. Bondi was insanely packed due to the lovely weekend weather. I loved the buzz and vibrancy of Balmain but it’s a little awkward for transportation to Chatswood. Cremorne is gorgeous but totally out of our price range.
• On Sunday we had brunch at Fifi Fouveaux’s in Surry Hills. It was delicious and I really liked the buzz of the area around there – very boho, artistic and urban (and pricey too!). We were pretty knackered on Sunday afternoon so spent sometime with the weekend papers.

Now for a completely different tact and excuse me for the emotion coming up:

In very sad news, my Mum and bro took our family cat to the vet to be put to sleep last weekend. My mum was so brave and held Soot while he was put to rest. He was 18 years old and completely blind. He burst both his eardrums late last year and had been declining since then. He had a stroke a couple of weeks ago and another one last week meaning he was disoriented and confused a lot. It’s so hard to know when is the right time to say goodbye. At least with Soot we knew his time was coming for a while so we could somewhat prepare, but it doesn’t make it easier to know that the sleek black panther will no longer be sitting on the driveway waiting for us to come home. He won’t be waiting around the BBQ to lick up any meat drippings. He won’t mewl in the kitchen for his favourite Fancy Feast flavour and promptly knock the tin out of the way in his fervour to start tucking in. He won’t be stretched out in the green grass soaking up the last of the sun’s rays of an evening. I still remember the first moment I saw him when Mum came to pick Paul and I up from afterschool care in Grade 2. She was carrying him in her arms but all we could see was a little ball of black fluff – was that the kitten?! The first night we got him home, he hid under the computer table and all we could see was his jewel coloured eyes peering out at us. He slept in an old beer carton on a folded towel for a couple of days but promptly found out he much preferred the warmth of our beds.  Until the end, Soot would sleep on one of the family’s beds for the night. Curled and tucked up against our legs, he was a little purring ball of warmth and most of all, love. Farewell Sooty – I know you are still around the house looking after Mum and Paul. I hope you know how much we all loved you and how losing you is like losing a beloved member of the family.

Okay…needed to wipe the tears away a bit there!

I’m a bit drained after writing all that so I think I’ll leave it at this today. No doubt will you fill you in on the start of uni and our househunting adventures in due time! Will post some pics soon!

xxx

Must brings: cookbooks, food mags, sentimental ornaments from travels, clothes. My family has also generously given us quite a lot of household stuff like a breadmaker, rice cooker, espresso cups, etc so that will all help. (Mind you, was I not going on about how liberating it is to live without “stuff” a few moments ago?!).

We have to coordinate the move. And I have to give notice at work tomorrow which I’m NOT looking forward to! I just hate having awkward conversations. Anyway, how does one move to a new city? I think we will have to find a short let somewhere for a couple of weeks to suss out the areas of Sydney and hopefully find somewhere in that time. We are divided between the Inner West (Leichhardt, Newtown, Annandale – close to my uni (hopefully!)) and North Shore (St Leonards, Crows Nest, Neutral Bay – close to Tom’s work). It’s probably better to be closer to Tom’s work to save on travel costs as I will have student ticket rates. Ahh, decisions! We’d love to get a 2 bedroom flat so when we have people stay it will be comfortable. But then our cashflow will be quite limited with me studying! Oh yeah, I have to find a job too! Eep!

Unfortunately, I won’t find out if I get into Uni until Feb 5 or Feb 15. REALLY keeping my fingers crossed that I get in. I’ve applied for Bachelor of Science/Master of Nutrition and Dietetics at Uni of Syd, with other preferences for straight Science, Bachelor of Medical Science and Bachelor of Arts/Science all at the same uni. It is going to be very full on – eg. first semester is 2 x Maths subjects (Calculus, Linear Algebra), Biology, Psychology and Chemistry. Second semester, is two more maths, molecular biology, chemistry and an elective. It is going to be quite the culture shock – haven’t done any scientific thinking since Year 12. That’s 8 long years ago! It’s very cobwebby and dusty in that part of the brain, I assure you.

Anyways, this is just a rash-dash post. Will do a more comprehensive update soon!

2000 (15 years old): Brought in the New Year with a massive party at my godparents house and thought I was tres sophisticated drinking Baileys on ice – whoo har! I was in Year 10 and 15 years old – boy, was  I totally self conscious and shy but had a strong group of girlfriends. Entertainment mainly involved going to the cinemas, ten pin bowling and sleepovers. Was also obsessed with chatting online (think this was ICQ?) and chatted to randoms all over the world and met some people off the internetz. Went to my first Big Day Out and to Livid. Was into alternative music (or so I thought). Did family road trip to Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.

2001 (16 years old): Enter Year 11 and the year of turning 16. Got my first job as a receptionist at a Mazda dealership which I hated with passion (though was really not so bad in retrospect!). Earned $5 an hour, har har! Got my second job at Woolworths towards the end of that year. I remember life being very boring and I particularly yearned for when I would be “grown up”. Again went to Big Day Out and quite a few other festivals/concerts like Vans Warped and Millencolin. Did a photography course through school.

2002: Senior Year at school. Worked fairly hard and ended up with top marks. Visited Melbourne with my family and bought a really cool formal dress. Had Senior Formal which was THE event of the year (haha, anticlimatic much). Went with my best friend at the time a la Romy and Michelle. Went to Schoolies at GC, which again was quite anti-climatic but of course memorable. Hummed and haaahed over what to do at uni – what courses to pick, etc.

2003: Eventful year. Went to QUT to study Business and Creative Industries (BIG MISTAKE). Got my driver’s licence and first car which was an orange convertible VW which I promptly sold for an 84 Toyota Corolla because I saw some images of the same model VW in a horrific car accident. Had first boyfriend (biggest bogan to ever exist) and went through a traumatic (I thought at the time anyway) episode of him cheating on me, etc. Grew apart from my school girlfriends and started hanging out with B. Turned 18 – which I had a full 100 day countdown for on my wall. Had my party at the Port Office – hee hee. Went out clubbing waaay too much at the end of the year.

2004 (19 years old): Second year of uni. Went out and partied way too much (all year). Had an obsession with Scandis. Dreamed of travelling.  Had my 19th birthday at Jorge on George. Went fully blonde for the first time. Got a job at Myer in the Kidswear Department which I enjoyed initially. Worked as a Santa’s Helper over Christmas.

2005 (20 years old): Third year of uni. Travelled to London and Contikki-ed around Europe with my brother for the first time in February. Fell in love with Europe and travelled to Amsterdam, The Rhine, Lucerne, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome, Florence, Nice, Lyon and Paris. Again went out way too much and became obsessed with the wrong people.

2006 (21 years old): Fourth year of uni. This year is a blur. I don’t remember much of it. Still did well at uni, but went out a lot. Had my 21st at Bravo in the Valley. Still worked at Myer. Started an internship at a so-called branding agency but quit that after 2 weeks. Began to seriously doubt my choice of study/career but continued anyway.

2007 (22 years old): Final semester of uni. Graduated with distinction in both degrees. Worked casually at a research firm for a couple of months after quitting Myer in the January. Went to Big Day Out again. Biggest moment was meeting Tom on a Friday night in June at the Down Under Bar. Planned moved to London. Travelled to Japan in July and visited Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic and Austria by myself. Found job with investment bank in London. Found garden flat in West Kensington. Tom moved to London as well. We travelled to Paris in November. Met Tom’s mum and sister. Had Paul, my brother, come to London to stay over Christmas.

2008 (23 years old): Worked at investment bank all year and moved roles to work in the desktop publishing/graphic design team which I initially enjoyed but then began to hate office work towards the end of the year. Went to New York with Paul in January. Travelled to The Netherlands in February. Had a lovely first Valentine’s Day with Tom which involved Argentinean steaks and Cuban mojitos. Found a gorgeous new flat in Hammersmith and moved there in May. Travelled to Portugal in mid May and had a week in the Netherlands in August. Went to Rome for Tom’s birthday in September. Parents visited me in London in October and did a UK road trip with them. Parents split up in November back home in Aus. Spent Christmas Day at home in our London flat but went to the Netherlands for Boxing Day. Began to develop a big interest in food and wine over this year.

2009 (24 years old): Agonised what to do with my life and decided that I wanted to pursue Nutrition and Dietetics. Was made redundant from investment bank job in early March. Visited Porstmouth and Isle of Wight. Did an impetuous trip to Wales. Lost 7.5kgs through Weight Watchers. Climbed Mount Snowdon in Wales. Came back to Australia in April/May for Lulu and Shun’s beautiful wedding and was bridesmaid. Applied for and got a spouse visa for Tom to come to Australia. Spent two months living in the Netherlands with Tom’s family. Travelled to Switzerland, France and Belgium. Travelled around The Netherlands a bit. Spent three weeks in Thailand and Malaysia on way back to Aus. Did some temp work for various companies in November and got a medical receptionist job for specialist in December.  Put back on the 7.5kgs lost through Weight Watchers!

Phew….the last few years have definitely been more interesting than the first few years of the decade. I have a feeling the coming one is going to be especially busy! I really cannot remember what I did between 2004 – 2006. They really were just years of general malaise. Plodding along at uni and my shitty retail job. I stuck with them because they were “safe” when I really should have just gone and travelled. Oh well. You cannot change the past for it’s already changed you!

Here’s to a wonderful gleaming new decade full of possibilities. My one word resolution word is: persistence.

Failure is non-existent in the existence of persistence.