Deck the Halls ... and all that stuff!

I got out my Christmas CD today. I love the start of December. It doesn't feel like Christmas to me before December.

I have a great Christmas CD. I got in while I was in the UK so it has great songs like Fairytale of New York (one of my favourites! What other Christmas song has the words 'you scumbag, you maggot' in them??), I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday, not to mention all the Cliff Richard 'greats'! Ah, Christmas.

This is the time I put up my tree. Always a great tradition in our house as a kid. On would go a Christmas CD. Mum would get out the box of decorations, most of them my sister and I had made and the rest seemed to have been in the box before time began. But each and every one had to make it onto the tree or it just wouldn't be the same. Next came all the standing back and moving ornaments until the tree was balanced. Once all the decorations were hung, at last the angel would be placed on the top. And it was official - Christmas could now start.

These days, my tree may be smaller and my decorations newer and shinier, but it still means Christmas to me.

The Santas have begun to appear in shopping centres. Yesterday, I sat in the hairdresser and watched all the kids and parents lining up to have their photo taken with Santa. The decorations are up and everywhere the feeling of Christmas is in the air.

Growing up in Australia, Christmas to me is hot. I have only had two Christmases out of the country - my first in Scotland was wet and cold and the second in Manchester, we did have snow in the morning, but we were flying out to Florida that day, so we had snow in the morning and tropical thunderstorm in the afternoon!

So, as the weather gets hotter and we start singing songs like 'Winter Wonderland', 'Frosty the Snowman' and 'Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!', it finally feels like Christmas to me!

Keeping it real

Please don't roll your eyes....I promise not to write about facebook with every single blog, but I just wanted to say that I love it! Have I said that already?

I spent several hours the other night 'chatting' to one of my best friends from high school that I haven't seen in a good 10 years. It was amazing to find out things about her and the rest of our 'gang' that I didn't know, like who was married, who had kids and how many, etc. But in the middle of all this reminiscing, I felt really sad. How did I lose touch with these people? My 'best' friends through some of the most important years of my life.

I made a promise to myself today, that no matter how good facebook is, or how great whatever comes after it will be, I will do everything I can to hold on to those friends in my life right now, so that in another 10 years, I can know about their lives first hand, by having shared life with them...not just through a photo and a profile on a wall.

But even though I feel a bit sad today at what I have missed out on, I still love you, facebook...!

Start at the very beginning (a very good place to start)

I am moving to London - changing countries, changing careers and hopefully changing myself. That is the reason for this blog. But this won't be the first time I have packed up my life into one suitcase (weighing no more than 20kgs, of course!) and travelled to the other side of the world in search of....adventure? Maybe. Something new? Yes. An opportunity to live the dream? Definately!

I have always wanted to travel and see the world, but was always putting it off, so when a friend one day sent me an sms asking did I want to go to Scotland, I jumped at the chance. That was back in 2002 and I spent a whole year working and saving, saving and working and then jumped on that plane and off I went.

It was such a great experience. Don't get me wrong. It had it's fair share of the good, the bad and the ugly.

I lived in Scotland for 6 months in a small village called Crieff (home of the lovely Ewan McGregor!!) and worked at the Crieff Hydro Hotel - a huge leisure hotel set in 900 acres of beautiful Scottish countryside. I loved the snow, the mountains, the whole village life. But soon the city girl in me started to resurface and I had to move on.

So, one day my two Aussie friends, Mandy and Lisa and I opened our Great Britain atlas and, not being quite ready to make the leap from Crieff to London, we chose Manchester - situated nicely in the middle of both.

Packing our life once again, this time into a hire car, we got behind the wheel, braved the M6 and headed for Manchester - home of the awesome Manchester United and Take That - what more could a girl want?

We soon settled into Manchester and it felt like a real home. But inevitably, the drag back home became stronger and so after a year in the North West, the packing began again - this time we were homewardbound.

It was strange being home again too - like living in a new place. It took me a while to realise that I'd been bitten by the travel bug and that it was terminal.

So after a few years, here I am again, planning to once again pack my life into one suitcase (weighing no more than 20 kgs, of course!), jump on that plane and travel to the other side of the world.

This time, I think I am ready for London....will it be ready for me?
There are so many places I still have to see...so many things I still want to do...

And so, this blog will make that journey with me and be a lasting memory of all my adventures when I finally get to that place where I settle down and look back over my life...whenever that will be!

Facing the Facebook

I have been putting off joining Facebook for a couple of reasons:
1. I had no laptop at home and it was generally frowned upon to access Facebook at work and 2. I knew it would be very addictive for me.

Well, I have my new laptop and yes, am already addicted to Facebook!

I knew it would happen so I really shouldn't be surprised. I have already found so many friends that I had lost contact with and I guess I just need to wait and see if any of them want me as their friend...because we all know it's all about how many Facebook friends we have, isn't it?

Stay tuned - the promised post about the reason for this blog is on it's way... after I just check my Facebook page again!

You Sneaky Blogger!

Just sneaking on to my blog while I am at work - is that bad?

Off to buy my own laptop tomorrow, so hopefully my posts will become interesting - or at least a bit longer without me looking over my shoulder for the boss to catch me out!

A blogger is born

Here I am. Finally. My own blog! I have thought about starting one for a while now and here it is. This first post will be a short one - just a test really - then I will be back to fill you in on why I am starting a blog and a bit more about me!

Back soon!