pay

praise the Lord, I got paid.

well, i wasn't really stressing, because i had people i could borrow money from, but paperwork all went through and I got paid today. I thought that i wouldn't get paid until the end of february. so, I am very excited, because I got paid, i now have money to go away at half-term and I don't have to borrow money from anyone!

yay!

the dam

am not sure who was drinking the water and who was drinking the looser juice. feel free to take a guess ;p my 'traditional' dinner. can't remember what it was called... any help?? it apparently didn't have smoked sausage in it, so it wasn't as good as it should have been (not that i eat sausage anyways). and it is only good if the spoon sticks up straight in it... thus the photo.

oh, this is a quick one of me and my aussie bear on 'straya' day. yes, i look like a tool.
some cool statue in amsterdam
helloooooo patrick!!! nice photo, and sjoerd, nick (sorry nick, we are all too small to be in a photo with you) and me in the back ground.
ok, that isn't amsterdam, this is an activity i did with the kids. we were making arks and flooding the sand for a new beginnings topic in RE with Year 7. at least i had fun! (i think the kids did too!)
I am sterdam... or something. that seems to be their logo for the moment (not sure how long it has been there for, or will be for), kind of like the london on thing or whatever that is. Yes, i had my photo taken at the sign aswell, but this is a group of spanish girls... we had to wait for what seems like forever to be able to have a photo there.
ummm, a bike rack?? i think it holds 8000 bikes or something. I would lose my bike in there, lucky i don't live there and don't own a bike. ha.
me trying to be arty??? umm, waiting in the hotel foyer eating free food before going to the airport to say fare-the-well to the dam for this time.
ha, you know those people who need to stick their tongue out when they write?? well, i spose nick needs to bite his lip when taking photos. you can't see it, but i was sitting up on a statue enjoying the 3:00am fresh air of amsterdam (like the statue earlier up). we were making our way home from karaoke. thanks guys, what a lovely night we had!!!
and may i present to you the boys... sjoerd, arnout and nick (photo taken bu patrick). i think that was just after they all sung some dutch song (even nick) that i had no-idea how to sing. something about being lonely on an island or .... ummmm, i don't know, maybe one of you guys can tell me what the words were...


ok, well, i am really really tired after a good weekend away in amsterdam. I can't remember if i have any stories, so we shall see what comes out as i type... actually, it probably won't make much sense.

friday night didn't go out for australia day because i went home to get ready for amsterdam. had a lovely night though, and went to bed earlyish. 4:15am start to get ready to go to the dam. sooooooooo, had a nice flight to amsterdam (i think it takes less time than it takes to drive from turramurra to cronulla). and then into the city for a lovely wander around the streets and canals. it was really quiet and a lovely city. first stop, breakfast in a nice (normal) cafe, then onto wander the city further, and some markets. then ummmm, can't remember. museum (reijkaus or something) and a quick rest at the hotel before off to dinner. now, dinner was meant to be a quick walk, but ummm, we got muddled with the scale and ended up walking about 40mins to the restaurant (where we only had starters). then bring on the dutch guys!!! Patrick, Sjoerd and Arnout came and off we went for a quick drink at a pub and then onto dinner at another lovely little pub. karaoke here we come!!! now, where we went to karaoke was near the famous windows in the red light district, so a quick stroll through there. it is quite a sad place to go, makes you think though... and back to the karaoke to forget about the windows and sing really cool old songs that we haven't sung for ages. none of us got up onstage though.


then make our way home... oh no, i left my jumper in the karaoke bar... (my ploy to go back and listen to more music, or actually did leave my jumper and wanted it back... we'll never know). and whilst looking at map, some man gave us directions and then wanted money for a shelter (but he was soooo nice to us, we just had to give him some money). and sleep... and it was a really comfy bed.

sunday, up not at all early to a nice breakfast at the hotel and wander on up to ann franks house. it was a good place to go and really made us think. crazy world. and then pancakes at the same place we had starters last night... such filling pancakes). then, oh, lets do a river tour (really informative and actually quite fun) and well, that's the end of how to spend a nice weekend in amsterdam.

and today i am really tired.


the end.
a big hug.
xx

(sorry, just realised this probably make less sense than usual)

and it's beginning to snow...

some little squirrel nutkinses in the park this morning on my way to school.... oh, i love those animals, even for the pests they are.... oh, so cute...
umm, that's me, presenting the snow... or is it waiting for it to fall on my hands?? that was at about 7:30 this morning as i was having breakfast with clement, i made him take a photo (cheers clem!). that is our backyard too. not bad not bad. oh and my new(ish) skirt from portobello road markets... do you like it?? actually, i don't care, cos i do!!
ahhh, shebu 'the green' or should it be the white?? on the way to school. and below, 'the green' on the way home... back to the way it should be... sorry, i just realised i put the blurry photo in. but i couldn't be bothered to change it, so it will have to do.
and below, the view from my classroom window at school... ahhhh, it snowed!!!! yay!!!

ahhh, i love rent the musical. been singing it almost all day. (sorry, random, but in reference to the line in the title.)

anyways, hope you enjoyed the photos!!!


I had such a lovely day today... i was happy, the kids were happy (well, until a bad class last lesson) and well, it really was a HAPPY SNOW DAY!!

don't know when it is due to snow again, but I loved it (despite nearly falling over how many times on the way to school!)

hope you are all well
xxxxxxxxxx
deev

HAPPY SNOW DAY!!!

yay, it snowed last night... quite a good covering too!!!

so HAPPY SNOW DAY TO EVERYONE!!!

i was taking photos like the good tourist i am on the way to school today, so i will try and post them up soon!!!

the kids at school are so happy cos they can play in it. I look out my window and it is beautiful!.. the teachers are happy, everyone is happy, hooray for that!!! so again, HAPPY SNOW DAY!!!!

how hot is it in aus??

YAY!!

bless,
deev

life...

well, as life plods on and i don't write anything, i get a complaint from my dad saying that i didn't post anything for like 6 days... sorry dad, must have been busy doing nothing worth noting.

soooooo, here is something. How about this weather... As some of you have heard, the wind has been pretty manic here, kinda fun, a bit of damage, but nothing too bad near here. And apparently it is meant to snow tomorrow... i will keep you posted with that one, cos i have no idea if the rumour had any grounds. and how about aus... bushfires look pretty bad, hope you are all far away from them, but the weather, well if you sleep the hot part of the day away, the rest sounds awesome. oh to be able to go to the beach (in a few months, just keep reminding myself, in a few months).

tonight i went with Diane (my new french housemate) to go and see Babel. I really enjoyed it. not just the fact that I saw amores perros with lucia and that it has a hot Gael Garcia Bernal in it, but the stories were pretty good and i like the way that they intertwined. so, it got bad reviews, but i enjoyed it. and it was nice to do something with Diane.

not much planned for this week. oh, school, and as i said, Cirque du Soleil on wednesday and then away this weekend (to Amsterdam). My australia day will be fairly quiet as i need rest to get to Gatwick at some ridiculous time on sat morning to get to amsterdam... bad choice of weekend... CLANG. oh well, i might learn eventually... nah, that would be no fun.

anyways... bed for me.

love to you all
deev-o

week of scout and school

hehe, we had sorbet at a mexican restaurand in clapham common and Dr Quint made a ummm, lantern out of his lemon skin and phone.... should have sold it to the tate modern for millions
ok, so it may look like poo, but that is the best tasting thing i have had for a while. it is a deep fried mars bar in Edinburgh, quite soft and oh go good. Now the place we went to will (apparently) deep fry anytyhing. someone else had a flake... soooooooo yummy (that's back to the marsbar). and they had free keyrings, so if you are going to edinburgh i've got the address on my keyring (was funny cos i asked Luke, sean's friend, if he knew where it was and he said 'yep, the address is on my keyring' and it was. ha, ok, well funny if you were there kinda thing. so now i am cool like luke.)
the sunset from the plane on the way back to london. sat next to a great english man and his partner who was scared of flying and hated take-off and landing. we somehow got singing 'incy wincy spider' with the row infront and she missed the landing because she was so involved in the song.
dr quint, helen, marni and myself after a yummy mexican meal. good to see you all!!!

now bear with me, i screwed up the setting and don't know how to fix it... maybe i should learn html... nah, leave it to someone else. the photos below are... me and mark after a lovely dinner (we were both meant to be being silly, and the next photo is me normal and him silly, but couldn't do that to him on the internet), ummm Richard, Karen, Simon, Katrina and me. (gee i know i am not tall, but Katrina and i look like midgets next to those guys). Jana, me, richard and matt with Eion(matt's housemate)'s girlfriend behind us and Eion and Tom in the background if you look really carefully. (oh there you are fellas). A view from the castle in Edinburgh and finally, Sean and Trine who put on a ripper dinner, thanks guys!





well, my week started on Sunday with a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Kristal (who unfortunately i didn't get to speak to as my phonecard wasn't working) I met her at the World Scout Jamboree in Chile. Then, Monday night was catching up with Simon and Karen (children of our scoutleader skip) and their partners and some friends at the Kensington Pub. Love that place, 2 4 1 mains on Mondays... great! umm, tuesday was watching Strictly Ballroom, ha, love that movie and schelle popped over to watch the end so school connection night. Wednesday night was have dinner at a nice restaurant in Leicester Square with Mark (former Narweigan scout) and then, thursday caught up with Richard (Karen's boyfriend) for drinks for his birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICHARD), but unfortunately couldn't go out with them all as it was spanish night.... then, Friday was movies with Jana. Saw 'the holiday' a beautiful chick flick that i would happily see a million times over at the movies and then onto Matt's for drinks for his b'day (scout connection being Matt from my troop, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!). Then, had to go home early (although didn't get there as early as planned) as i was getting up early to fly to edinburgh to bumm around the city and catch up with Sean (scout connection back when we were all young and innocent) and Trine (his girlfriend who went to my school). ok, almost finished now... Sunday night caught up with Marni, Myall (better known to me as Dr Quint) and Helen also Narweigans from scouts and then when i got home, a quick message to Kristy from school who's birthday it was today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TY!! so, started with birthdays, ended with birthdays birthdays inbetween with lots of scout and school friend stuff inbetween. it was one HECTIC week, but i had a blast.

so, now for some of the stories... where to start.

it was great to catch up with Simon, Richard and Karen (and to meet Katrina). thanks for making some time to see me. umm, fastforward to friday. oh yeah, go and see the holiday, beautiful movie. Jana and i both really liked it (yes, we are soppy romantics somewhere under a thick skin). and then onto Matt's for dinner. always have fun with you guys, so had a great night! then when they went out, i went home so i could get up early for Edinburgh.

Nearly missed my flight. I did online check-in and then left for the station where i would have 30mins up my sleeve at the airport... BUT... Gatwick express was not working till 8:30am, which is great when your flight leaves at 7:00am and the replacement bus takes 30mins longer. the bus was then late, so i get to the airport at 6:50am and get my passport checked, excuse my way through baggage scanners, ask if my flight has left to which no-one seems to know, it is now 7:00am. I run with my shoes off to gate 6 where there had been a slight delay in boarding, so plane was still there. Then face a rude lady saying, 'if the plane had left ontime i would have missed it'. yeah, well that is great lady, i'm aware of that, but the plane is here, i am here, so why do you have to tell me that?? are you going to let me board, or not cos if the plane was ontime then i wouldn't have made the flight. stupid stupid lady, grrrrrrr.

Sean picked me up from the airport (thanks heaps) and dropped me in the city. I then made my way up to the castle. it was well windy up there. i even saw a lady holding a stroller with a kid in it which tipped over. whoops, poor kid. it was pretty funny to watch thoughm, put it on funniest videos, win for sure. then bummed around for a bit and had lunch with some italian guy i met at the hostel. then off to dinner and out to the pub with sean, trine and their friends from aus but living in london Luke and Kathryn.

next day bummed around, nearly got blown off the cliff near Arthur's seat. (had to crouch down cos the wind was blowing me too much). then home to catch up with Dr Quint (we all love Dr quint), marni and helen. as i said, we went to a lovely mexican restaurant in clapham (matt, have to go there with you and jana sometime!)

then on the way back, met a really cute drunk french dude who walked from Hammersmith to shepherds bush with me, but unfortunately i didn't get his phone number. bummer, oh well, always next time (don't worry mum and dad, i'm being careful!!!!).

ok, whoa, huge posting. nothing else too great springs to mind, so i think it is a good place to stop. hope you are enjoying my adventures almost as much as i am.

love you all
deev

oh raol, you will be sooo proud of me, i am going to see Alegria next wednesday all by myself! it is at the royal albert hall. I feel so cultured!

Happy New Year... and clinkers.

ok, well, a very blurry photo, but that is the london eye and a crowded street (just a little while after the fireworks). i heard it was busy earlier on, but i wasn't there. ok, so i tried to put the blog posting before the photos, but i don't know how to. and then it went funny, so please bear with me.... many many photos and then a little (or very long this time) story.
some ummm, random guys we spoke to, these two were German. apparently they have a kartoffel kopf (so i heard). and alas, no flash, lucky there were heaps of lights.
don't know why we are all closing our eyes, maybe the wind... hey jana, is that your christmas hat blowing away?? oh look, a party popper!!
Christiaan, very arty. hey, did you steal my camera for a bit?? hmmmm, would explain some of the photos!
ok, so maybe that isn't arty, but i don't feel like i have to explain my art to you Warren. ahh, my dead flip-flops, but it's cool, cos i have another pair now. yay. and look, that is the sun. we are having a backyard party on boxing day IN THE SUN!!! it was great!
ahhh, cronulla beach. and even a little grommit with an aussie towel, how fitting!!! and again, look, the sun!!!
no backyard party is complete without the fire. so, here it is. a lovely night that was, cheers muz, you guys throw a pretty good backyard party. keep up the good work on round2.
ok, so these photos are a bit out of order. ummm, clapham common, jana, matty, christiaan, lena and me. too many photos being taken at once... where to look??
ahhhhhh, that's a nice bridge if ever i saw one. reminds me a bit of the eiffel tower. ahhhh, we love sydney and the harbour bridge.
ummm, whoops, i'm leaving sydney and i don't think i have a photo of my parents yet. ummm, smile!! hehe. thanks for your patience with me over the last two weeks mum and dad.

picnic rug massage anyone?? some of the girls from home ummm, well, the ground was wet. my goodness it got really cold that night, but the stars were awesome. i think i spent 30mins zoning out looking at the stars. schelle, i even saw the milky way and that was just in wahroonga. you should have been there.
julie, julie, julie, julie and ummm, i have forgotten the horses name. she works and lives at randwick taking the horses for walks and swimming and stuff. well cool. and luv, it was great to see you!!!
and son, that's what we call a hills hoist. a great aussie invention. well, i was trying to get a photo of the stars, but oh well. that was my vantage point for the 30mins of star gazing. i think i saw 5 shooting starts during that time. it was great!
benny c and me. oh a jetcat exploring tha harbour. thanks ben, all i wanted was a ferry ride!!! that was a lovely arvo. gee, i love sydney. look at that view. fantastic!!! why would you live anywhere else (good question deev). well, now is the time. and hopefully syd will still be there on my return.
wel love you toddles!!!!!! thanks for coming to the christmas party!!! next time, i'm so going to get you something to drink!
Dink. now, isn't that just the epitime of ausiness... aussie shirt, beer and sanger roll. cheers dink. and what a fabulous day you have for a birthday!!!
me and bretto at his boxing day bbq. too many bbq's on one day. to bretto and all my hurstville boys, it was fabulous to see you all!!! come visit soon, would love to see you! (and that goes for all of you aussie people!!) thanks for providing the sun that day too!!!
ahhh, big brothers really do care. even if they do wear pink shirts with their collars up. well, he has always been the stylish one of the siblings.
just a small collection of our ummm christmas soft toys... and most of them dance too!!! hehe. yes, we are a strange bunch, but i wouldn't have it any other way.
this is just some of the dryness. my goodness, i don't think i've ever seen it so bad and this isn't even the bad bits. praying for rain guys!! did make for a good photo though (coutesy of reyna, my hero!! cos i was driving. thanks luv)
and here she is!!! my hero!!! if it wasn't for you, i wouldn't be able to be back in the uk working. cheers!! we love families!! this was at Questacon. what a great girlies day in canberra that was.
two of the girls from school. rach and mrs mcgregor. (congratulations ty!!!!) was great to catch up with the both of you!!! see you soon rach!
we love raol, raol love absolut! haha. thanks for coming to my christmas party and making the 7hr drive. it was great to see you raol, and meet you Katrina. ahhhh, a happy couple from the bush. a little place called Howlong?? (ahh haha, please don't kill me!)
my bro and my two new cousins gettinc upto mischief in canberra. sorry i didn't see you ant and liz. next time. thanks for letting us stay malcolm and carol!!!
the eiffel tower, similar (ok not really) to the harbour bridge?? maybe its just the steel factor and lots of lines.
dad and me and daddies sauce. what a great birthday present. everytime he has it, he can think of me.... ahhhhhh
sacre coeur. from my trip to paris, now that seems like an eternity ago.
and our 62MG family christmas party. all the guys (although lucia is now back in madrid) we're waiting for Diane to move in. breakdown will be 4/2 french/aussie... let's see how it goes. allez le bleu or not.
and our tapas from the christmas party. lucia and i did a ripper job. go us!!

ok, so that is a small selection of the pics. i'm going really well... wish i could put more up, but decided there has to be an end point eventually... and so now, onto the news... sorry it is so long.

ok, well, i think one of the most exciting things about my new years eve party was playing the clinkers game, but i am really bummed that i didn't actually take any photos. how could i be so stupid!!!! and do you know what?? the yellow ones suck. you don't want the yellow ones, cos they taste way too strongly of fake bananas. and clinkers get sickly sweet after a while. but they are soooooo yummy and fun to eat. (don't you agree matt, jana, lena and christiaan???)

so HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all. my goodness, so hard to believe i have been gone from Aus for a year and a half and well, plans are now out the window for 'when' i will be going home for good. it was great to be home in sydney, and as i think i already said, my heart is in aus (along with a whole heap of quality people who i am starting to miss all over again), but london is where i am at at the moment. crazytown. i went to church yesterday for the morning service and was singing a song and thinking something on the way there. and the preacher quoted a line from the song and then spoke on what i was thinking. i really believe this church is where i am supposed to be at the moment, so praying that God will grow me and use me there. so, i am really excited to see what 2007 has in store for me in Shepherds Bush, London, or wherever else i end up being. (although have just signed contract for my school, so won't be moving too far at this stage!)

ok, a quick recount of my new years and then well, maybe a few photos of my lovely australia and new years and even paris from before.... i feel lots of photos in this posting.... ahhhh, i love photos (and thanks bro for giving me the photo mobile. i might have to print out some photos so i can hang it up.)

ok, so home i get on saturday. not a bad day (thanks heaps rakesh for picking me up from the airport, it was lovely). did some paperwork for school (that i am now totally lost in) and made an attempt to unpack (most of which is still on one side of my bed). but mum, you would be proud i did my washing and it is now drying (taking up more space in my room). ok, sorry, really chatty today, moving on. oh and caught up with matt and jana for hot chocolate at an italian restaurant in south kensington... really good hot chocolate, almost a mousse like consistancy.... ok, really off track today, bear with me!!! ha (is it any more than usual???)

then, church on sunday morning and just round the corner is High street kensington, so i had to do some shopping (see, i left my favourite shoes at home, so instead of getting them sent over, why not just buy more!!!). So bought some shoes in the sales, not a bad price at all mind you. and then did a bit more pottering around High St Ken 'exploring' the shops. think i impusle bought a few things too... but of course nothing that i didn't need.

and then got ready (of course wearing my new shoes) to go south for my first experience of Matt's place. (very nice by the way matt!!). So, off to matt's i went to meet up with him and Jana (i love you guys) and see Lena again and meet Christiaan, Lena's boyfriend.... german boys are very tall.... watched them play a german card game which was too confusing for me (like most card games that aren't spit or snap or scum, think it had more that 4 letters and didn't start with 's', maybe that was my problem!). by the time we had our lovely dinner, it was heaps late, but we had to go into the 'city' to celebrate new years. we got as far as clapham common and celebrated there in the wind and cold. but it was great!!! we had lots of fireworks from all angles, popped our christmas crackers (which they don't have in germany, so that's why we had them) and then our party poppers and welcomed in the new year with a few dances... whoop whoop.

then onto waterloo to explore a bit further. and to hang out with lots of tourists. found a whole group of spanish people and then got chatting to some germans too. my camera flash decided not to work, stupid stupid, i don't think it likes the cold. might have to get it a blanket for it. hung around there for a while then to the bus for the trip home. found some weird polish guy who wouldn't leave us alone and started chatting to some american who really didn't want to chat to me (as if that would ever happen) and then after like 30mins waiting realised hey, tubes are still working, so good option that was (thanks NatWest) said bye bye to Matt and Jana (thanks for a good night guys) and caught the tube with Lena and Christiaan most of the way home. and then onto shepherds bush. now by this time i didn't feel like going home to an empty house, so rang Nick who was still out partying in the area (invited me to celebrate with schelle and him like 7 hours beforehand, so only a little late to reply) and off we went for my very first ever experience of the 24hr bagelbite at shebu. (don't get me wrong, i have been in there plenty of times before, just never been able to bring myself to buy something and eat it that close to before i go to bed). it was a good start to the new years cos before i went to aus i decided i wanted to try it, and now, i have. hooray!!!

whoa, essay and a half. well, today, i slept most of the day away, with being well tired, going to bed very late, jetlagged and all other possible options. i actually contemplated not getting out of bed and sleeping right through till tomorrow and getting up and going to WORK. it will be good to be back at work. (and praise God the visa went through, so all clear to start, one less stress for me to worry about).

ok, really should stop writing, cos i don't know if this makes sense and well, i don't know if anyone is still reading. but awesome if you are!!! enjoy the pics, take care, love you to bits.

deev
and yes mum, i am looking after myself!!!
xx
(missing aus quite bad.... but loving england too)