Memories all alone in the moonlight.

So what a year 2008 turned out to be changes here and there, new beginnings and all that. So I found these questions on the internet and thought I would use them to show all my blog readers, (which I am sure is just my family now as my posts have been so in frequent) what I have been doing. If it helps you can sing the Green Day song I hope you had the time of your life in your head to get you feeling all nostalgic. Also I should have done this every year and we could have compared and contrasted (or as my english teacher used to say 'look at what is different and what is the same'). Oh well you will have to just make do with 2008. Feel free to comment! maybe we could strat a discussion? Okay lets not get too ahead of ourselves. Just comment if you want. No pressure.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Got married!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I can’t even remember my last years resolutions. I think it might have been to survive the wedding which I did. This year I’ve got three corkers but I don’t want to tell you in case I don’t do them and then my failure will be a public one.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My sister gave birth to Louis, the first grandchild and the chosen one. I can not begin to tell you how crazy my whole family has gone over this child. And also my friend Lucy had a Daisy a month ago.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No I am blessed with robust family and friends. Let’s keep it that way!

5. What oversaes cities/countries did you visit?
Hawaii, LA again and Jamie still did not agree to move there. Vegas baby yeah! Sorry had to say it. Germany, Amsterdam, Norfolk (not technically overseas but is three hours from London so it is really) And Austria although this is like going home now so also doesn’t count. Oh my god of course the land of the long white cloud! Aoeteroa.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Money! Everyone thinks this I’m sure but with a crippling mortgage, a wedding and grey hair you can never have enough of it. Also a bit less stress about the small stuff.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
7th March my wedding day which has now turned into my wedding anniversary. Funny that. My amazing hen weekend in Paris. The day my nephew was born but I have forgotten the date(sorry nikki!) But I remember walking down the street almost crying when she had just given birth to a little boy. Even though I don't remember the exact day the memory is etched in the big old scrapbook of life.


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?.
Getting married does that count? Nah I just showed up and looked pretty. Probably losing all the weight for the wedding and completing the half-marathon because I pushed my body further than it ever wanted to go. And now I am going to say something romantic so stop reading if you want. Still having a great relationship with Jamie after 12 years. The other day we went out for dinner with friends and I was not feeling on top of my game and I realised that he had taken my hand under the table and was squeezing it. Just because he knew that I needed a bit of support. Because that’s the kind if guy he is.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Putting the wedding weight back on and also the nightmare DIY that we did ourselves when we should have just paid someone to do it because we are dumb arses. Actually not a failure but felt like it at the time.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I couldn’t even list it would take the whole page. Have so many running/exercise related injuries it’s stupid. I can’t remember the last time I could walk without a slight twinge in fact yesterday I was walking down the corridor and my knee gave out. Annoyingly none of these have been serious enough for me not to go to work.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My track pants. They were from an outlet shop so they were cheap but they all velvety and warm and I even tuck them into my uggs and go to the pub in them and they have a drawstring waistband and I love them.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My parents who bought me a trip back to NZ to see my nephew. I am more shocked than you are believe me.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
so many people! work related that I won’t go into here but also the guy that made the decision to bomb Gaza deserves a bit of scorn I think.

14. Where did most of your money go?
The wedding, the house, my hair and random pieces of crap that I have bought and then regretted it.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
You cannot imagine how excited I was about the wedding it was insane and it made me feel about 12. Also Jamie’s 30th was stressful for me but ace for him and that made me excited.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Low by Flo’ rider. Ohh wee we had some drunken dancing with brides in Vegas to this song.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?
Sadder but only because there is no wedding.
b) thinner or fatter?
Fatter
c) richer or poorer?
God when you owe the bank £280 000 is there really a difference?

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Lying out in the sun, although I live in London so this is impossible.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Stressing

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With 4 good friends, my husband and about 1 ton of food.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Yeap with Louis and Bruce Wayne

22. What was your favourite TV program?
This is a complicated questions because I don’t want to play favourites, but I have just got into Cold Case because it has flashbacks with 80’s music and it takes no brain to watch. Little Dorritt started off good but then went on for ages and just got boring.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I ain’t no h8ter. Yeah some people I do hate but best not to vocalise just feeds the negativity.


24. What was the best book you read?
The Girls was quite good and Eleanor Lipman made me laugh out loud.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I don’t discover music just tend to follow the crowd but I have recently re-discovered Michael Jackson’s Black or White album, should i be ashamed or proud that i know the words and music vidoes and dance moves to every song. Not point dwelling on the coolness of it it's just the way I am. If you ignore that he is a paedo it is quite enjoyable.

26. What did you want and get?
My wedding band and a happy healthy nephew.

27. What did you want and not get?
I’m not being ungrateful because I love my husband and he bought me a lovely laptop and supports me because I earn less than a street sweeper but god I want a Mulberry bag. I want one so much I can smell it and I know it is a stupid to spend £650 to spend on a bag but I want it and I'll use it everyday until I die, which in cost per wear it works out cheap. Yeah Jamie hasn't fallen for this argumnet either.

28. What was your favourite film of this year?
I see a lot of movies for my job so many I can’t remember but there was this movie called Evening which was alright but there was one scene in it which broke my heart where an old woman dying remembers her daughter playing the piano and there was this golden light and everyone was smiling and I cried in fact I’m almost crying now, lets not talk about it anymore.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 29 oh and this is question 29 spooky. Jamie took me out to a very flash restaurant and I wore a dress that I had to undo at the end of the night because I ate too much. And it was on a Tuesday. Enough said. Next year it’s the big 30. Watch out.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
This is hard, maybe a new job?

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
If it’s comfortable I’ll wear it anywhere. Emily and Jamie has disowned me several times for wearing my track pants in public. Couldn’t care less would rather be comfortable.

32. What kept you sane?
My husband and writing.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
This is a toughie. In doubt always revert to Johnnie Depp that’s my philosophy.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Sarah Pailn annoyed me but yet was excellent for taking the piss out of so was really a blessing.

35. Who did you miss?
Again list so long would be a separate blog entry. All my peeps in NZ and all my dudes that left London for sunnier climates.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Louis via Skype and that’s it. I need I think I need to broaden my social circle. Oh maybe that can be another new year resolution.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Sometimes life is not fair. It’s annoying and frustrating but true and you just have to roll with it.

Will also add some pictures tonight.

xxxxx

Merry Christmas

Well Christmas has passed but it is still the season of Christmas well at lest the Christmas period.
And i am writing this from my brand new laptop which Jamie bought for me because he is a kind husband but mostly because he is sick of sharing his laptop and thinks that by buying me one I can't make his sticky anymore.
So now I have my very own computer. I have never had that before. And i thought right I'll install everything and do everything by myself on it. You can see where this is going I tried and after about 3 minutes I got frustrated and made Jamie do it for me.
But i did install iTunes by myself. Okay no i didn't Jamie did that too.

We went out shopping for the laptop yesterday and Oxford street was so busy you couldn't walk let alone shop. There was so many people if you don't live in London you might not get it. It was like trying to get on the last helicopter out of a war zone. It was brutal and Jamie said to me 'You Are quiet' because usually I huff and puff and swear at people and push and shove my way through the crowd and I said 'yeah I am trying to be zen about the whole thing and zone out' Actually I was imaging what it would like to be Daniel Crag's girlfriend and where we would live. I am currently favouring a country house, not too big with about 8-10 bedrooms. Anyway I didn't tell jamie this because he hadn't bought me the laptop yet.

And also for Christmas I got an Ipod dock which you put your ipod into and it plays music. So i got electronics for Christmas. I had the Christmas of a 15 year old boy.

I also got a measuring jug and some rubber spatulas but before all the feminists out there raise up there arms in protest I asked for these things because I need to increase my baking equipment.

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and have a lovely new year. Now I have my own laptop I think I will update the blog more. Yes I will it is my new year resolution. I have just decided. just like that.


Picture of laptop above, just for kicks really laptops look all the same but I thoguht the blog needed some visual interest.

xxxxx

Sleep here -wake up there

This is the thing with being on the other side of the world from your family. The time difference.
I just can’t work it out, like ever, even after 5 years. But I am celver girl and usually google it, or ask Amy at work who works it out for me in her head like the genius that she is.
But it is a problem for my mother who in the five years I have lived in London has called me at a respectable hour about twice. Not twice a year but twice. Apparently you don't have google in new zealand.
So this is what happens the phone rings at 6:30 on a Tuesday morning. Here two things immediately run through my head One someone I love has been killed/injured or maimed and it is a New Zealand related emergency. Two Mum has got the time difference wrong again.
But I pick it up because could you imagine if I slept through it and then something has happened to my lovely family. I couldn’t live with myself.

So in stumble out of bed literally and turn on the bedroom light, so I can see the way to the lounge but mostly because I am angry if Jamie gets to sleep and I don’t.
And I answer the phone and when I say answer I mean groan.
And the conversation goes like this
Mum: Hi Honey
Andrea : grrrrr
Mum: Oh did I wake you?
Andrea: grrrrr
Mum: What’s the time there?
Andrea: 6:14
Mum: What in the morning?
Andrea: YES
Mum: That’s early
Andrea: I know
Mum: Oh I thought you would be up by now? What time do you go to work? I thought you would be up for work. You start work very late in London Does Jamie start work late? Oh I guess I got the time difference wrong again. I never seem to get it right. Is Jamie up? What time does he go to work? Are you still sleepy? It’s nice to hear your voice. How have you been? It’s nice weather here, rained a bit yesterday. What about London? Are you still sleepy? Should I call you back?
Andrea: Yes.
And then I hang up.

Because although I love my mum to death I don’t make any sense that early in the morning and she is paying to call me do she is basically flushing money down the toilet. And I just can’t do it.

And I emailed my sister and said let’s skype on Christmas eve and Christmas day. And she said that’s a good idea. I’ll be at Dads from 3:30 to 6:30. Which means I will have to talk to them at 5:30 in the morning (Amy worked this out for me) 5:30 in the morning at the latest. AT THE LATEST. Is she crazy! This is no way near a respectable time and then she said Mum coming over at 1:00 so we can talk then as well. 1:00 at lunchtime means 12:00 at night my time. Oh okay I’ll just wait up until 12:00 and then call you! I will have to be very drunk to do this which means it be an interesting Christmas phone call. It seems that time difference diffculties run deep in our family.

Anyway because it is Christmas and I have a generous soul I am setting my alarm and getting up and out of bed ridicously early to talk to my family. That’s how much I love them.

xxxxxx

below freezing

Ohh-wee it’s cold in London. About -2 at the moment but don’t worry it feels like 3 degrees. So cold. And the footpath has completely iced over which means you are taking your life in your hands when you walk. I almost slipped over 100 times on the way to work today. But I used my thighs to stop myself sliding around. So toning up the bum muscles. I think I need some type of ice shoe.

Also I have out on all pre-wedding weight and so are now trying to loose a bit, not all just a bit. Have stepped up the exercise again, which I quite enjoy in a sick type of way and am watching what I eat and Jamie does not help. I have trained him too well and now he always brings home chocolate for me that I feel obliged to eat out of politeness. I told him not to bring home chocolate anymore so he bought me home cheesecake instead, and I ate that as well once again out of politeness it gave me no pleasure.

Oh lordy

Last Friday night Emily, Jaime, Georgia, rachel and I went out for a girls night. Below are some photos and just to let you know I do not have an eye infection. My eyes are just red. Possibly because I decide that drinking vodka straight over ice is my new thing and also apparently being an idiot is my new thing.
I mean really who drinks vodka straight?. Me for one night andnever again. I had the mother of a hangover the next day, it was so bad that I drunk mouthwash instead of gargling it. And it was only marginally worse than drinking vodka straight.

Below are a highlight of the pictures, you know when you look a picture of yourself drunk and you start to feel quesy all over again? This is how I feel when I look at these pictures. Also a warning in some if not all of these pictures I look very unattractive, you may think less of me after scrolling down. And also I have no recollection of what the bar looked like. I now realise it was quite a nice place with a black and white theme. Who would have thought? I won’t caption the photos because I think you get the picture. We started off sober and ended up very drunk and hula hooping.

New blog post for Julia xxxx

Hands up who is part of the social networking phenomenon that is known as Face book? Argh we all are. And it’s a useful tool for bragging, sharing photos, keeping in touch with people and most importantly stalking.

And I have one guy on face book that I went to school with ages ago and have never spoken to at school let alone after I left and I am his friend. And for you non-face bookers out there, e.g. my mum and dad. This means you can see thier photos and what they have been doing and who their girlfriend is and where they live now etc etc. All sorts of information that you can use to judge them.
This is a funny story about my judgmental tendenices, which I am trying to control by the way before you get all judgemental on me. Once I was really stressed I think we were moving to the UK and all this stuff had to be done and I was getting all edgy. So Jamie said to me ‘Lets go out and sit somewhere so you can judge people, that will calm you down.’
And it did, after half an hour or so watching people I was as calm as the Dalai Lama. I like to judge people, it’s mean and cruel I know but you can always tell a lot about people by their shoes. That’s my motto.

Anyway so on face book there is this guy, let’s call him Harold (not his real name, I purposely choose this because they only person I know called Harold is on Neighbours) Anyway Harold I have not spoken to or seen in about 15-17 years. Anyway he is now my friend on facebook and I am obsessed with him and his life and his girlfriend (lets call her Madge for continuity) Harold and Madge do get up to some adventures let me tell you. They go to the rugby sevens in Wellington, they take funny pictures of themselves pulling faces, they party with their workmates like it’s 1999. There lives are non-stop rollercoaster and I am along for the ride. And I can’t stop myself, I am obsessed with Harold and the craziest thing is I have no idea why. Anyway I am stuck with this obsessions, I have been sucked into harold’s life and don’t see a way out. What if I ever run into him face to face what will I do? Will I talk to him? Will he recognise me? Will I want him too?
Ah lets be honest I will just pretend I didn’t see him and walk away.

In other news my less than a year old Ugg boots are kaput. The stitching has come undone and now they are unwearable. I took them to the shoemaker who couldn’t fix them and the Chinese tailor up the road and they said ‘shoe no fit under sewing machine.’ To which I replied. ‘make it fit.’ They said ‘no, shoe no fit.’ Then I said ‘Hand sew it!’ And they looked at me like I was on crack. So I stormed out.
Anyway now I have to buy a new pair because I CAN NOT LIVE without my ugg boots. (The capitalization is no mistake I really mean it.) They are my life blood and I am so poor buying a new pair is not an option, okay that’s a lie I could buy a new pair but then the mortgage wouldn’t get paid. And I asked Jamie last night if this was an acceptable solution and he didn’t answer, so I took this as a no. But then again silence is open to interpretation isn’t it?

Anyway I am off to colder climates this weekend and it’s going to be freezing, it’s going to snow and I hate snow and my winter jacket is so old it is threadbare and only has 4 of it’s 6 buttons. And yes I could get them re-sewed on but I have had this done so many times I am bored of it. And anyway I am boycotting the Chinese tailor after he refused to perform life saving surgery on my uggs.

I just also wanted it noted that I blame Jamie entirely for my living on the bread line circumstances. I’m not sure why but give me time and I’ll come up with a reason.

Xxxxx

report from the frontline

So it’s been a week and I feel sufficiently recovered to write about the mission that was the half-marathon.

Man it was hard work, for a start it was really hot, like about 40 degrees actually it was about 22 but it felt 40.

And I’ve done big runs before but this one was the worst by far, it took the longest and it was the hardest and I counted every kilometer and there were 22 and a half of them. And I had big hopes for doing a marathon after the successful completion of the half marathon but I think we can safely say those plans are shelved.

So the first problem was the heat the second problem was the carbo-loading. An interesting side note the night before I ate so much pasta I had stomach cramps and couldn’t stand up straight and said to Jamie ‘You have to take me to the hospital, I can't walk.' and he said ‘It’s just gas’ and I said ‘not it’s not, I have a serious stomach problem. And the he said ‘not it’s just gas’ And I then said ‘no it’s not, oh hang on, yes it is.’
My stomach was so heavy it felt like a rock chained to my foot that I was dragging around and then because I didn’t want to add to my load I felt I couldn’t have water and I got dehydrated which lead to a frightening experience at about the 12th mile that I was going to faint, my head was spinning and I heard buzzing in one ear. In retrospect this could have been a fly.

Anyway I ran all the way because even though it wasn’t comfortable, my armpits were bleeding because of chaffing for god’s sake, at the end of the day you have to do 13 and a half miles and whether you run or walk them you still have to finish and at this stage I was running because walking would have only extended the pain.

And after all this I still beat my goal which was 2 hours thirty I did it in 2:24 and more importantly finished. There was a time when I could see the finish line and was running towards it and it didn’t seem to be getting any closer and my heart broke and then I ran past a man and he said ‘keep going Darling’ and then I cried. I don’t know why, I was very hot.

A special mention must go out to Emily who ran with me every step and stopped an waited for me and then ran beside me and encouraged me every step of the way without her I would have truly been doomed and definitely not made it round. She was my hero.

Also thanks to all those who turned out to support me and cheer me on.

Below are some pictures I don’t think they really capture how hard it was and how close to death I felt. But I did it and even writing about it has made me tired so I am off for another rest.


In other news, I bought some new track pants which I haven’t taken off for three straight days I even went out to brunch with friends in them yesterday. Jamie is horrifed I am happy.

Also it almost my birthday soon. I will be 29, I can’t believe it, can you?





Amy, emily and I with our medals that were made out of wood! cheapos. but we got free Mars bars.


Me from the side can you see my carb tummy?


Emily and I running and me smiling, this was not characteristic of the run as a whole.


xxx