Whilst putting together yesterday's yearly recap post, I came to realise that 2007 wasn't a particularly wonderful year for me, sickness wise. It's not as though they were truly serious ones, but they were enough to leave me knocked around for a good few weeks across the year.

Catching a bug right before my plane trip was hardly something I would have wanted, but in a way it might have worked out for the best: the jump from summer to winter weather would have most likely had me sneezing anyway. (It's not the cold weather that bothers me, it's walking into buildings that are blasting their heaters at million degree temperatures. No wonder we're all sick!)

I'm feeling much better lately, and hopefully will be able to shake off the remaining pesky little germs soon. It would be really nice to be able to ring in the New Year without having to blow my nose every twenty seconds, even if we do just end up watching the celebrations on the television like a couple of grandparents.

For now, though ...

I say it every year, but it really does feel like this year flew by. Last year, I wrapped up the year's events in a post, and I can't believe it's already that time again. I can safely say that this time last December, I would never have guessed that in a year's time I would be sitting in a lounge room in London with Jason.

January
I celebrated the New Year quietly at home and enjoyed watching the summer storms. I counted down the days to my New Zealand trip with Jason, where I bungy jumped and canyon-swung on the south island in Queenstown. We went white water rafting and shot-over jet boating and made our way to Wellington on the north island. The fun continued, as we enjoyed a lake cruise in Taupo and the glow worm caves in Waitomo. At the end of our tour, I snorkelled for the first time ever in the Bay of Islands, where I also managed to step on a sea urchin, ouch! I also discovered that Auckland is possibly my least favourity city ever, as we were bored after our first day there. The school term resumed and I began my second year of teaching job-sharing with a fellow teacher.

February
A few days into the month, I was offered to teach my own class of kidlets with high support needs, which was a position I accepted. On the blogging front I updated my 100 things list, which reminds me - I need to update that soon! After a happy year with my previous class, my pet mice were given away to a new home. Februrary 14th had me thinking about the different opinions we all have about Valentines Day, and no, I sadly did not recieve a puppy as a gift. A few friends and I braved the crazies and went to see Evanascence in concert, and a few days later both me and Kirby had contracted the great Goth Bug of 07, my first illness of the year. After a few random looks at my blog stats in the past, the inaugral Sunday Google-age post was created! To wrap up the month, I ended up with yet another cold! Brilliant, eh?

March
I watched alot of Bridezillas this month, which had me thinking about weddings and all that goes along with them. I confessed to being a self-proclaimed dork and shared my dorkiness with the world. It was proud moments all round as I finally paid off my car, within the first year of my buying it. I came down with yet another illness, which was diagnosed as possibly glandular fever. Not long after that, I found out that Jason was going to be leaving me to go to England much earlier than we had planned; needless to say, that was not a happy weekend. A whole stack of memes began floating around the blog world, and I went into over-analyse mode over whether to tag or not to tag. Lastly, I became a teaching mentor for the first time when I was introduced to my student.

April
My blog celebrated it's 2000th comment! My obsession with Threadless tees began, when I recieved my first shipment of witty slogan tees and teased everyone with their humour, though they did cause me to get squished boob syndrome. I made it through the first term of school relatively unscathed. I rescued a gorgeous rabbit (lovingly called New Bun) from the vet but after a few weeks of failed bonding, ended up having to say goodbye and find her a new home. Kirby, Mum and I braved the cold sitting in the backseat of my parent's Mustang convertible on the way home from the awesome John Mayer concert, where there were skanks a-plenty, but no Jessica Simpson in sight. I had my first appointment to find out about having laser eye surgery to correct my shortsightedness, and soon found out that I was a successful candidate for the procedure. My baby brother turned 20, and I took a trip down memory lane. Sadly, my beautiful Bella-rabbit passed away from a jaw infection, leaving me heartbroken.

May
I discovered that I am possibly the world's worst poker player, but that I can play blackjack. I underwent Advanced Surface Laser surgery on my eyes, and lived to tell the tale. My Stalkerific Blogroll went live for the first time, which also needs updating! I did my part being an environmentally friendly water-saver, and poor Rusty the dog suffered in the wake of it. Jason turned 25, and in celebration I brought home another bunny - Ricky bun! I worried over what the rest of the year would bring, and how terrified I was about Jason leaving the country without me. And I got sick. Again.

June
Writing the kidlets half-yearly report cards kept me busy, as did posing for the dreaded school photograph. My blog got reviewed for the first (and only) time which left my confidence fairly shattered, though thankfully your comments helped get me through the paranoia. I became very nervous about the planet after watching An Inconvenient Truth. Despite losing some weight, I whinged about not going down a dress size; something which has still not happened yet! My student teacher finished up in the classroom, and I realised that I had thoroughly enjoyed being a mentor. I reminisced about bungy jumping in New Zealand, and shared my pictures for the first time. I had a bit of a meltdown over being left on my own, and had a nasty experience with a split lip that looked suspiciously like a cold sore. Lucy and Ricky finally started to get along, and I got the photo evidence to prove it. And I took a big step and registered my very own domain!

July
Guess what - I got sick.. again, surprise surprise. I realised I was well and truly over my head after moving my blog, and had to get up to speed fairly quickly. My possessed television began turning itself on at night, leaving me completely and utterly spooked. I started thinking about what American tour I should save up for, and decided on the Grand Southern Contiki tour. After deciding I needed some distractions while Jason was away, 'The List' made it's debut on my blog, thanks to all of your suggestions. While stressing out over the boy's impending departure date, I took a big step of my own and bought my own one way plane ticket to England, leaving on Christmas Day. I celebrated my 23rd birthday, with a low key dinner with my family.

August
I enjoyed my last few days with Jason before he left the country, where I distracted myself by staring at my birthday bling. Kirby and I splurged on a gold class cinema ticket to see Harry Potter 5. After becoming frustrated with my weight loss efforts, I declared August a scale-free month. Mum and I had a strange encounter with some pink mashed potatoes. I braved my fear of the hairdresser to get a new style cut, where I also had my palest of pale eyelashes tinted. I had blogging on the brain, and talked about how seriously I took it. And I mentioned one of the most important things I noticed about Jason when I met him: his sassy shoes.

September
Life without Jason saw me going through the motions, day in and day out. Kirby and I went to see Snow Patrol in concert, where we screamed out Troy! and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Jason started house hunting in England, and I started helping from a million miles away. Lucy-bun got sick, and I began the process of medicating her by mouth, which was not fun. I reminisced about how I met Jason and the butterflies and anticipation that came along with it. We celebrated our fifth year anniversary a million miles apart, and I dedicated a photo montage to him! My face decided to go back to it's teenage years and break out in a spectacular fashion. A few days later, I discovered that the blotches weren't just from a break out, but that I was suffering from the Slap Cheek virus, the umpteenth illness of the year. My UK working Visa arrived, which brought on a minor stress attack, and I booked my USA tour for next August.

October
The holidays didn't start out particularly well, as my beautiful Lucy passed away in my arms this month. I decided to try and get more motivated after my efforts with healthy habits left me feeling down. I participated in the Great Mofo Delurk, where most of us bloggers met some wonderful new faces. I pushed on with my fitness and managed to run my first 5km stretch with no breaks. The random assortment of Aussie bugs appearing due to the weather left me completely freaked out. I began writing the Time Capsule saga, two posts chock full of memories from my primary school and high school years. For Blog Action Day, I talked about the environment from a teacher's perspective. The kidlets and I went into Sydney for our transport excursion, where I got to be a tourist for the day. Three months into our separation, I wrote about how I was coping being on my own, and realised that I was doing a pretty darned good job of it! My tendency to worry about the little things was something on my mind, and I got a little grumpy on Halloween.

November
For the second year in a row, I participated in NaBloPoMo, even though I posted practically every day this year anyway! Kirby and I had a spontaneous weekend o'fun on the Gold Coast, where we braved the theme parks and had a spankin' good time! I finally got around to registering with Bloglines, even though I was probably the last person on the planet to do so. Laughter is always the best medicine, and a Harry Potter based parody really tickled my fancy. I braved a visit to the dreaded dentist (no cavities!) and vowed to floss every day after getting a nifty goodie bag. I uncovered our great family debate: who took the cute picture of Max? Mum later showed off her technological genius by creating a very witty LOLMax. Along with a stack of other fabulous bloggers, I participated in the In The Raw blogshare, where I enjoyed posting anonymously for a day. A bit of drama close to home left me wondering where to draw the line with friendships at work, and the kidlets artistic sketches of me had me in stitches. Realising that I had only a month left on Aussie soil left me shocked, and I remained disheartened over my body image.

December
In amusing fashion, my first blog post in December was a slightly drunken one. I went on a very important mission to uncover my top five celebrity crushes. I purchased my first ever laptop and christened her Dellilah. A farewell barbeque left me feeling very loved, as I saw a stack of friends who I'd not seen in a long time. The two week countdown to Christmas sparked a bit of fear in me, but also left me feeling really excited! My Secret Blogger Santa spoiled me by sending me some fabulous free gifts (thanks Janet!) as well as an Itunes giftcard. Things started looking up on the UK job front, as I had to make some tricky decisions over teaching jobs. I had London on the brain constantly, which was heightened by my internet blowing up at home, argh! At the worst possible time, I caught my final cold for the year just days before my horrible twenty two hour flight. Then it was Christmas, and I said goodbye to my family, my pets, my home, and ended up here in the sunny UK - alive, if a little wheezy. And here I am today: sitting in the living room of our house in London, after being brave and finding myself along the way.

So that's that. It's been a strange year, but I'm happy with where I've ended up. Here's to the next year bringing lots more exciting things!

Am exhausted today, after literally squeezing into the tube and heading into Covent Gardens for a teaching agency interview. It was a typically grey and miserable day, and I was glad to get back home - but it being dark at 3.37pm is completely bizarre. It feels like bedtime, yet it's the early afternoon. It'll be strange for a while.

I took a few pictures of the apartment this morning, so feel free to have a squiz!

This is the cute kitchen, where Jason has been making me eat strange green vegetables. They've been fairly good so far, but sssh. He might end up with a big head.



Here is the bedroom, which is actually a lot bigger in person than it looks in the picture. (Oh, and do you see the messy bed? That's what I got when I asked Jason to make it so I could take a picture. I think that perhaps he should stick to cooking. And ironing.)



And my favourite room: the lounge/living room. It's got a comfy lounge, a cute coffee table, and a huge window that opens onto a balcony. Also note the lovely treadmill/cross trainer of death. Seriously, that thing is insanely hard. I think I hate it.



This is the view out of the balcony, towards the river: just through those arches, and all around the bend, you'll find the water. We're a moment away from the Thames!



This is the view up the other end of the street: to get to the railway station, you walk to the end and turn right, that's it. It's a really gorgeous area, I love it to bits!



And last but not least... the both of us, sick, tired and slightly grumpy. Squee!

I would hate to jinx myself early on in the piece, but I think I've settled in fairly well to the London time zone. I ended up going to bed at about 8pm last night and woke up this morning at 6.30am. Other than the silly head cold, I have been feeling positive.

I forgot to mention this yesterday, but dear old Jason has been ill since I arrived. (No, it wasn't me who made him sick - he was sick while I was still in the Southern Hemisphere, I swear!) Needless to say, my waking up bright and chipper in the wee hours of the morning was probably the last thing he needed, so I left him alone and kept myself amused by wandering around the house for a while.

We had made plans to head to Canary Wharf and set up up a bank account for me as well as a couple of other errands, but weren't in a great rush to do so.

When Jason emerged a little while later, he looked terrible. After mentioning that he would see how he felt about going out later, I did something really bizarre and unlike myself: I offered to just head in and do things myself. I realise that makes me sound about twelve years old or something, but I am not a very confident person. It takes me a while to warm up to new things at the best of times, so even catching the flight here on my own was a big step for me. As for figuring out the trains and layout of a giant shopping mall, well, let's just say it was an interesting day!

A couple of hours later, I stumbled home feeling a little bit worse for wear. Jason opened the door for me, all dressed and ready to come out - he was worried I'd gotten lost and was preparing to come rescue me! In actual fact though, I was fine. I managed to get my way around the light rail, and didn't get lost doing so. I did however, get lost in the shopping centre, which was spread out everywhere and all over the place, but I eventually found my way.

Here's what I ended up achieving on my random day out:

• I opened up a UK bank account, which will be ready in a week or so.


• I purchased a pink (!) fluffy dressing gown, which I'm smitten with.


• Bought a whole lot of toiletries for home that I didn't bring with me.


• Hunted around for a cheap hair dryer and straightener.


• Got a UK simcard for my mobile phone, and organised a new number.

So there you have it: I got out and about on my second day here. (Yes, I'm proud of myself.) I think that I'm settling in fairly well so far, though I do miss home already.

I made it!

I'm not particularly awake at the moment, but just thought I would pop online and let you know that I arrived in London early this morning. The first part of the flight was 7 hours to Singapore, then 13 hours from then on. It's a horrid one at the best of times, but is particularly dreadful when you can't breathe.

We caught a taxi home from the airport, where I giggled like a crazy person as we drove past Leicester and Trafalgar Squares, and omg a red phone booth! I'm easily pleased.

It all feels like a bit of a dream, at the moment. The house is gorgeous, the pillows are awesome, and I'm feeling comfortable. Now if I could just wake up for a few more hours and get into the swing of the time zone, things will be perfect.

I'll post more details later when I feel more awake, but in the meantime - did you have an amazing Christmas? Since I missed mine, you'll have to fill me in on yours.

I'm always ahead with my Christmas wishes because of the time difference - but I'm allowed to indulge one last time.

Thankyou for sharing another year of blogging with me. I hope you have a really wonderful holiday, however you're spending it and whoever you're spending it with.

As for me, I'll be talking to you soon enough.. from the other side of the globe. (I really hope that this is not my plane.)

Merry Christmas, my friends!

I can't believe this is going to be the last night sleeping in my own bed. I love my bed. I love the stripey quilt cover. I love the six pillows I sleep with. I love having the window behind me left open each night, so that I get some fresh air. I am going to miss my bed. I hope my new bed will be a comfy one. And I hope Jason has some nice, hard pillows. Or else.

I exchanged a little bit of money today - which was a completely depressing experience. $1 Aussie dollar is currently $0.42 British pounds: making my savings seem pretty poor! It won't be so bad once I start earning a little money, but still: walking away with that teeny stack of notes just felt weird. Everytime I see English money, it makes me realise just how pretty our Aussie money is.

My room is packed up. The suitcase is done. I've left out all the paperwork for my parents to fill in for next year. My next task is getting the bathroom cupboards cleaned out, because my beloved toiletries are going to have to be either stored or thrown away. This packing business is hard work!

Bad news is, I still have my cold. Not only am I spluttering like a steam engine, I have lost the ability to smell and taste. I'm also channeling a certain reindeer we all know and love, because my nose? It is a really alarming shade of red.

There go all of my romantic notions of waltzing off the plane all glamourous and special, and being swept off my feet by my adoring partner! On the contrary, I'll be the red-faced, puffy-eyed and scruffy-haired girl who will be staggering off the plane under the weight of her bulging carry on bag crammed full of stuff. (It's almost as heavy as the suitcase.)

As Paris would say: that's hot.

For now, I'm off to enjoy my last night here in Sydney - spending Christmas Eve with my family, two of whom I've managed to share the sickness with: just call me McLovin'. I'll no doubt steal online before I leave to wish you all a Merry Christmas, but in the meantime, make sure you're extra nice tonight so that Santa will pay you a visit.

:D

Once again, that little thing called karma has come around and bitten me on the arse. I should have learned by now!

I'm usually always the first one to be affected by the zillions of germs that float around, resulting in me being knocked around by countless colds each year. It's happened more often now that I work with children day in and day out, and this year has been no different. If a kidlet got sick? Give it a few days, and I would have caught it too. It's a talent.

The funniest part is that despite all of my sickness, Jason rarely gets sick at all. It doesn't matter if he's in contact with me while I'm sick, he seems to have the world's strongest immune system - where as mine is constantly waving it's white flag and giving up.

Since he moved overseas, I've been lucky. In the past five months, I've had an almost perfect record in the sickness department: other than the slap cheek/parvo debacle, I haven't had one cold since the beginning of August.

What's a usually-sick girl to do when she stays relatively healthy for a change? Boast, of course. A fair bit. Then publicly announce that Jason must be the carrier of all the nasty diseasey germs; hence the reason why I'm sick all the time and he isn't. And then deduce that it is because he is overseas and is keeping his germs away from me, that I have remained fit as a fiddle. Oh, and that all of the sickness I've ever experienced was his fault.

I know - sometimes I get just a wee bit carried away.

It's okay though, because like I said: karma. Guess who has got the head cold from hell two mere days before her 22-hour-long plane ride? You guessed it.

It started off as the dreaded sore throat - and after popping an insane amount of vitamins, it's now progressed to my sinus. The charming part about sinus is that a) your head feels like it is constantly going to explode, b) you lose the ability to taste, and c) you can't sleep at night for fear of suffocation. I suppose that explains why I'm awake at 1.43am instead of snoring peacefully. Although in London time, it is actually 2.43pm (the day before) so perhaps I'm just getting myself ready for the time differences which are also going to be kicking my arse soon.

Wait, if it's 2.43pm London time, that means it's still Saturday. Which means I don't actually leave until another THREE days have passed, rather than two more days...

[Head explodes all over the monitor]

I think this image about sums up the last few days:

(And yes. I'm the one face-down on the desk.)



Good news, though -- we're back online!

Mum was able to grab a new modem, so at least I have some connection to the outside world for the next four days. And you thought you could get rid of me that easily, eh? Ha!

School is out. Weekend is here. I have a daunting task ahead of me, though: packing the dreaded suitcase which I have put off for weeks on end. The time for procrastination has come and gone, now it's on. Aly vs The Suitcase.

(If I were a gambling person, I'd be betting on the latter: I have a feeling that The Suitcase is going to kick my arse.)

I hate to say this, but your dancing just aint workin'.

Turns out the modem/router is well and truly DEAD. There's no coming back for the little bugger. Needless to say, we're internet-less at home.

(ohmygosh)

As this is my last day here at school, I may be out of commission for a little while - meaning you might get a break from the I'M MOVING TO LONDON IN FOUR DAYS spiel.

(ohmygosh)

My classroom is empty. I have three kidlets who decided to come to school on the last day. The canteen lady is making me a free lunch for my last day. My last day: I can't believe I'm saying that!

(ohmygosh)

Carry on dancin', everyone! I'll be back soon.