The last 3 weeks in a nutshell...

Well! Where do I start. I think I will tackle this in chronological order in the hopes of jogging my meager memories.

First and foremost - I got the new job! This is very exciting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the massive boost to my salary. I cannot tell you how pleasing it was to give my notice to my previous employers in the job from hell, and I have to say I very much enjoyed my exit interview..... It was possibly the best Christmas present I could have given myself. I start new job on the 7th, so still have a bit of time to go to prepare myself. I am working for the government department that looks after roads (racy I know) and in a twist that has had me laughing ever since, now have the word 'senior' in my job title. I must confess that I am starting to feel slightly nervous now, and hoping I am not going to be massively out of my depth.

Obviously being christmas season there has been a flurry of partying etc. The first event of the festive season was Stu's work christmas do at the Sirromet Winery just outside of Brisbane. This is a very lovely spot, set in rolling hills, with little wallabies hopping around in between the vines. It was a black tie do as well so everyone was really dressed up which is always very nice. As I am sure you can well imagine though, the after effects of a free bar in a winery were not so pretty and the evening pretty much degenerated into all round farcical drunkeness, with no-one looking so classy on the way back out... After the dinner and dancing at the winery was finished a coach took everyone back into town to the Casino to carry on the evening. This was a fairly disastrous decision on my part. I managed to get separated from Stu, so one of his mates from work was saddled with the task of leading me round by hand so I didn't lapse into some sort of coma. I then fell up the stairs (better than down I suppose), and at some point was asked to leave. This is apparently quite a feat, as the casino usually does not worry too much about drunkenness so long as you are spending money. Woopsies. I sprained my thumb or something on the trip up the stairs, and it has never been the same since....

The next event was fakemas at our house. We had decided that because it was our first Christmas away from home, and many of our mates found themselves in the same boat we would host a bit of a get together. Everyone was going to be a bit scattered round for actual Christmas itself, so on the 15th we had 14 people over for a traditional roast dinner.... The day did not start well when the turkey we picked up from the butchers turned out to be still completely frozen. Now I am aware that it is quite hot down under, but I was nonetheless sceptical of his claims that a 6.5 kilo bird would defrost in time for us to get it in the oven in oooh... about half an hour ago actually if we wanted dinner on the table for 3 as we had promised everyone. Cue a frantic dash around the other local butcheries to find a fresh bird. As it turned out this was the worst disaster of the day, and a bloody good time was had by all. Dinner was just lovely, everyone liked their secret santa presents (or at least had been practicing their very best pleased faces beforehand) and there was much eating, drinking, merry making, and singing. We have even been requested to make it an annual tradition which is very nice - however this does mean we cannot make any more friends as I feel that 16 people is about the limit of both our house and our catering abilities.

And so onto Christmas itself..... Stu's sister and her family are over here visiting, and they rented an EXTREMELY fancy house on Sunrise Beach just outside of Noosa, and they very kindly extended an invite to us to come stay for Christmas week. It was absolutely amazing - the house was fabulous, and it was really nice to see some family for our first Christmas away - kind of softened the blow a bit. It was also really nice to have little ones around, it makes Christmas just a little bit more fun eh? Not much to tell about the week really - the weather was a bit rubbish, but it incorporated all the elements of eating, relaxing, drinking, laughing and chatting that you would want from a holiday week. We went for a walk on the beach Christmas day morning which was certainly different - it did feel a bit odd to be doing stuff like that even if the weather wasn't that special. All in all we had a splendid week, and cannot thank our hosts enough.

Stuart Robinson has obviously been a very good boy this year as Santa was very good to him. Not only did he receive a voucher to climb the story bridge, but as a secret surprise I took him for afternoon tea at the Stamford Plaza. It was a very pleasant way to while away a couple of hours I have to say, and a nice wrap up to the festive season.

Christmas 2007

So tonight is new years eve, it's 18:15 and we have no idea what we are going to do. Just let me take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a very happy 2008 - I hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am!

I've broken my arse

On Friday last week we had some work drinks here to celebrate the departure of one of the Aussies who is going to our Washington office to work for a bit. So I partook of a glass of wine or two, and then on my way home Stu called to say that he was having work drinks and there was a card behind the bar, and that I should join them.

I woke up on Saturday with somewhat hazy memories and a very sore behind. Neither Stu or I could think of anything to explain sore behind, so put I put it down to experience and proceeded to be verrrrrrrrry careful getting in and out of chairs for the rest of the week.

Yesterday, Stu had a work meeting, and one of his colleagues enquired as to the state of my bottom. He was naturally a bit surprised, and somewhat curious, and asked for the reason behind the question.

Turns out that as I was walking away from the bar, I skidded in a wet patch, and landed tailbone first on the little foot railing thing that some bars have. I am quite pleased I cannot remember this event, as my arse is still so sore now that it must have REALLY hurt at the time.

So I'm adding a bruised coccyx to my collection of random drinking injuries collected over the years, including but not limited to bruises, fractured nose, a black eye and concussion.

We're off to be tourists this weekend, going for a night's break in a chintzy B&B in a wee town with lots of vowels (Toowoomba) which is about 130k west of Brisbane. I am very excited, and will update you next week!

Until then, me and my broken arse wish you well.

Leaving (heavily sedated) on a jet plane

So here it is. The day of reckoning. If only I felt a little more prepared, but instead I feel like all the hangovers I've had over the last month have joined forces today.

So we're off to the airport at 10. Meeting Stu's sisters there for another emotional farewell - I'm sure that everyone I say goodbye to now thinks I'm really heartless, but I'm starting to feel a little goodbyed out and blase. Then off to Singapore for a couple of nights, then off to Brisbane! We arrive on Good Friday morning at about 6 or something ridiculous like that, then off to our serviced apartments where the good folks at Stu's new company are putting us up for about 3-4 weeks. That month will be a bit of a mad scramble to find our own gaff and a job for me, but hopefully a little tiny bit of sight seeing too.

The last month has been nothing if not a little hectic. I would say don't bother going to Harrods - it's not that exciting. Also if you ever go to your husbands' leaving work do don't get so pissed that he ends up having to look after you and make sure you get home safe as he won't appreciate it. We've had some wonderful hospitality this month, so a massive thank you to everyone who's put us up/put up with us during that time. It has been wonderful to be able to spend some quality time with you all before we shoot off. Thanks also to everyone who came out on Saturday - we had a bloody great night. Also thanks for being so understanding about the bar tab situation - I hope you all felt like you got your tenners worth out of the bar. I woke up at 6:30 on Sunday morning with a raging thirst, and had to clean my teeth about 5 times before they lost their little coat of fur. Still feeling a little weary now, but hey I have nothing much to do today.

So we're off. (I think I may have started nearly every paragraph today with the word 'So'). Goodbye everyone, and I'll try and update again as soon as I can (as I know you're all on the edge of your seat).

Take care

x