Old News - Newletters April 2006

I can’t believe it’s been a month already!

Life is pretty crazy over here, we’ve been very busy. Milord’s birthday was yesterday, so there have been things on for that – we hosted a bbq on Sunday for around 20 people. It went well although I seemed to be running around making salad and tidying etc far too much (I miss having other girlies to help – it doesn’t seem an Aussie thing to come over early to pitch in. And people don’t bring anything except booze so you have to make 5 salads not just one). Probably a good thing as I didn’t get much of a chance to eat or drink, and I woke feeling much (much) better than Milord in the morning!

Last night I took Milord out for drinks in the rather posh 36th floor cocktail lounge of the Shangri La hotel which overlooks Sydney harbour. The view is amazing, and we had a wonderful sunset. Then I surprised him with a night in another hotel where our room overlooked the harbour bridge and we stayed in and had room service and a candlelit bath. This morning we had a champagne breakfast in our room watching the ferries come and go in the sunshine, and it was glorious. Not cheap, but very good.

The weekend before last we went away to the Blue Mountains just for a break from domestic life. We hired a wood cabin in a very remote location, and were completely out of phone signal and could relax with no distractions. Big weekend papers, a simmering log stove indoors (it was very chilly in the mountains!), and wine in the sunshine on the veranda overlooking the valley – just what we needed. When we are at home there is always something that needs doing, but there we could shelve all that and simply enjoy. On the Sunday we did go for a good hard walk down and up the hill and along the valley, so did do some exercise too!

For Easter we’re off to Lady Elliot Island, which is right at the southern end of the Barrier Reef. It is a sanctuary so quite basic, but we plan to spend as much time as possible under water so that’s ok! We fly out tomorrow and get back on Monday. I haven’t had a good dive since Egypt, so I’m really looking forward to it.

Work is going very well. I work with a nice bunch of people, the managers know what they are doing, and we are working hard enough that the days fly but we’re not killing ourselves (yet). If you’re interested I’m working on a new Call Centre web app for Readers Digest, replacing about 10 disparate ancient systems. We’re using C# and ASP.net, and I am learning a lot. It’s a good job. My current contract is 3 months, but I wouldn’t be surprised to be kept on for most of the year.

It is certainly nice to be earning again as my UK account is now empty!

Milord and I go from strength to strength, we are really starting to settle down now that we have a bit of routine. He still spoils me rotten though, and I’m loving it. A bloke who still treats me like a princess after 3 months – this is definitely worth crossing the planet for!

Autumn is here now, and I’m missing my winter wardrobe. I had to dash out for jackets and jerseys and closed shoes the other day when we had a cold spell, and we have the duvet back on the bed and a heater in the lounge. In spite of the temperature drop the weather is the best it’s been so far – clear sunny days with little humidity. My hair has finally stopped going curly and is back to the style I used to have!

As with all these things the “Bridget Jones equation” is in full force (that’s the one that says you can never be happy at work, in love, and thin at the same time). I have gained around 5kg+ since moving here and the clothes are all a bit tight! I dread getting into a bikini tomorrow…

But if that’s the worst of my worries I’ll take it!