Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons

Just a quick update...

We had our football match against our clients. They rocked up looking almost like a pro team - very intimidating! It was a hard fought battle, but from out of nowhere we managed to beat them 10-8! Amazing! Of course when they asked to play on after full time we agreed and let them win because everyone knows "The customer is always right". Anyway, there was much celebrating and gloating in the office the next day, so we all felt like heroes :) Apparently the clients are all fired up for a rematch, so watch this space!

Also in the news this week - Dad and I went to see the musical Jersey Boys. It is all about the rise to fame for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. When I booked the tickets I was thinking the name sounded kind of familiar, but once we were there I found I knew lots of the songs including greats like Oh What a Night and Big Girls Don't Cry. We both really enjoyed the show - it's a real feel good performance and the singers were phenomenal. The next day we discovered we'd been there on opening night and the real Frankie Valli was in the audience!

That's all for now...

V.I.V.

Our VIV arrived today (that's Very Important Visitor) - my Dad has flown all the way from Oz to stay with us for three weeks! It is fantastic to see him particularly since he isn't keen on flying long distance, so I wasn't sure that he'd ever venture to my side of the world after his last trip.

This time he travelled in style - business class, if you don't mind - with a chauffeur to shuttle him from the airport to our house! He said the reclining seats on the plane were "good, although you couldn't really lie on your side". I had a giggle at this because we usually travel in cattle class and that is another whole level (or five) of complete uncomfortableness!

Dad has come baring gifts - Allen's lollies, the best ever melting moments made by our wonderful friend Sue Peacock, pictures of the progress of my parent's house that is currently being built, the program from our friend Kym's wedding, and lots of information for our trip to Spain.

We've been wanting to return to the "land of tapas" ever since our last visit in 2005, so the three of us are taking 10 days over Easter and travelling from Barcelona across northern Spain to Santander. Can't wait!!

Beat them until they beg for mercy

As part of health and safety, I think my company should be required to supply massages and painkillers!

My project manager James is quite sporty and competitive, so he came up with the great idea of challenging our client to a 5-a-side football match (a.k.a soccer for the Aussies and Yanks). Of course we have the company's reputation to uphold, so yesterday we had a practice match with 10 people from our project team with some ring-ins.

I haven't played competitive sport since leaving Oz, I'm rather unfit and I think I've played maybe 2 games of football in my life, so it was with much trepidation that I signed up to play. This was compounded by the fact that I was the only girl to sign up - all the others complained that they were "too rubbish" to participate. I knew I'd be terrible too, but I believe it's better to give it a go and have a laugh, than be a "blushing bonny" on the sidelines. (See how I'm picking up all these "English-isms"!)

Anyway, the game was an absolute blast!! I was terrible as expected, but a big thumbs up for the guys who cheered me on anyway. I even managed a fluke goal to help my team (cheerfully named the "Beat them until they beg for mercy" team) to a 15-9 victory!! James said I was the "biggest threat to their team" - I'm sure he was referring to my amazing skills, right?

So this morning the adrenaline has worn off and I'm feeling rather sorry for myself. I have mega blisters on my feet, a ball shaped bruise on my forearm and various other aches and pains, but the glory of being one of the Risk Software team's reigning champions is worth it!!

Unfortunately the real match against our client is in two weeks time when I'll be away. I'm not sure how the team will fare without me, but if they lose I can say it was because they needed me so much!! ;)

There has been talk of making it a regular event, so I'll have to get some new sneakers and some practice in, so I can dazzle them with my new-found skills at the next match. Bring it on!

Best in Show

Every couple of years I like to torture myself and last weekend was one of those times. I packed myself some snacks and set off early to the train station aiming to arrive at the Birmingham NEC mid-morning in time for all the action in the main arena. I was off to Crufts - the greatest dog show in the world!!!

This show is held every year in a massive (I think someone said 10 hectares) entertainment centre. There were 5 halls full of everything doggie, plus the main arena which seats 7000 people, and an obedience area. There were 23,000 dogs participating this year in the show rings, obedience trials, agility, flyball, doggie dancing, demonstrations, etc, etc, etc. You can buy absolutely everything under the sun for your pets from collars, to mugs, to pooper scoopers, to beds and even a cardboard cutout of your pampered pooch!

Each day is assigned to a different set of dogs in the show area. I went on Saturday because the pastoral group was showing - that includes the Border Collies, hence the comment about torture after I had to leave my favourite BCs behind when I left Oz. After a Best in Breed has been selected for each breed, the winners go on to the Best in Group. There are 7 groups - Terrier, Hound, Working, Pastoral, Toy and Gundog. The 7 Best in Group winners then go on to the much coveted Best in Show competition which is beamed live to millions of dog lovers on the Sunday night. This year a giant Schnauzer called Phillipe won. I was lucky enough to see him shown while I was at Crufts and his win was definitely well deserved.

The best part about being a Border Collie lover is that they are the dog of choice for agility, obedience, flyball and doggie dancing, so I was able to get my fix! They are all waggy tails and absolute enthusiasm, which I love. You can almost see them talking to their owners saying "Come on!! Let's blitz this course! I know the way! GO! GO! GO!!!!". Gotta love 'em!

This year I went by myself to Crufts, so I had some time to reflect on the way home. It occurred to me that the activity that gives me the greatest happiness ever is being a dog owner. I love teaching them tricks, watching them frolic in the park or go crazy on the agility course. Phil and I are like fish without water at the moment - whenever we see a dog anywhere it is all we can do not to drop to our knees and play with it. We thirst for that interaction. I'm generally a happy person content with my lot in life, but this is the one huge hole in my life. Put it this way - I've even been considering getting cats just to have a pet - and I am NOT a cat person!!

Everyone says that it isn't fair or practical to have a pet when we work long hours and we travel a lot. I'm starting to think that I'd rather work shorter hours and travel less if only I could have a waggy tail or two to come home to each night! Luckily we have no space for a dog at the moment, so hopefully the desperation inspired by Crufts will retreat to a dull longing again until we can move to somewhere where we can have wolfies again. Until then, I'll just have to get my fix from the random dogs we meet in the park or from my friend's new puppy. She's best keep an eye on me in case I accidentally slip him in my bag next time I'm visiting!!

Where it all began...

I had never really wanted to travel. My major travel experiences consisted of a trip around Oz when I was really little, numerous sailing jaunts in various parts of Australia, a couple of ski trips in Oz and at Mt Hutt in New Zealand, engineering summer schools in Kalgoorlie and Sydney and visits to my relatives in Melbourne. All great fun, but nothing that made me want to pack up my life into a suitcase and hit the open road.

One by one my friends flocked overseas to see the sights and returned with tales of adventure and daring. Most of them couldn't wait to build up their savings for their next big trip. I was thrilled that they had enjoyed their travels so much, but I still wasn't interested - no matter how much my Mum tried to convince me to go too. I loved living in Perth near my family and friends - endless sunshine, a challenging job, a lovely house and two beautiful Border Collies - Texas and Phoenix. Life was good.

Phil liked our life too, but he had dreamed of being a computer game programmer for as long as I've known him, and back then Perth just didn't offer those sort of opportunities. I can't remember how the conversation arose, but one warm night in 2003 while walking the dogs in our local park we decided to move to London. Just like that.

Of course, moving your whole life to a new country doesn't happen overnight. We had to sell our house, resign from our jobs, apply for our passports and visas, put all our stuff into storage (in case we changed our minds and wanted to come home) and a million other tasks that meant we were flat out right up until leaving for the airport! This was all made significantly harder when I injured my back doing the gardening one day and had to have 2.5 months off work while it healed.

The absolute hardest thing was realising it wasn't practical to take Tex and Phoenix with us. London apartment living is no place for two highly energetic Border Collies! Phoenix was extremely lucky to find a home in Texas in the USA with a wonderful couple who own a ranch - every dog's dream home. Texas was more difficult to rehome as he wasn't dog friendly. Literally on the last weekend we were in Australia, my friend's dear grandparents said they would like to have him. It still makes me cry when I think about them and every dog I see makes me wish we could have them over here with us, but I know their new owners love them every bit as much as we do and they are being spoilt rotten, so we couldn't ask for better than that.

Excuse me while I wipe the tears off the keyboard...

Anyway, on the 15th April 2004, amidst a flurry of hugs and kisses from our families and my friend Karen, we set off for our big adventure. We had a couple of days in Singapore followed by a couple of months in Italy to look forward to before we planned to settle in the UK for two years, but I'll leave those tales for another day...

"Act like a tourist in your own city" weekend

No snooze for you

Since the start of the working year, I've been following the "How to be an early riser" program after I read about it on one of my friend's blogs (Hi Val!!). Honestly I feel a bit stupid because all I've really had to change is actually getting up the first time the alarm goes off instead of hitting the snooze button 10 billion times. My Dad will laugh at me because he's been telling me that for years! I feel much less tired in the mornings and I've become one of the "early to work"-ers, which means the trains are slightly less crammed and I have a chance to catch up on some general stuff before I'm inundated with work each day.

The added bonus is that my weekends are longer because I'm naturally getting up around 7:30/8am instead of midday! However, that has just generally meant more time lazing around at home, so last weekend I decided it was time for an "Act like a tourist in your own city" weekend. Luckily I have a friend, Pete, who has recently come to the UK for 3 months work, so I was able to drag him along too.

Ghosts and ghoulies

On Saturday night, Phil and I took Pete on a whirlwind tour through Piccadilly Circus and across to Leicester Square where we then ducked up a side street into China town for Japanese at one of our favourite haunts. I LOVE their chicken teriyaki bento boxes, while Phil is a die hard una don fan (that's eel - ick!!).

The main event for the night was a "Ghosts of the Old City" walk through the area around St Paul's cathedral. You may be surprised to hear that we didn't actually see any ghosts ;) , but it was a great laugh and the guide had a wonderful story telling voice.

I think my favourite tale was about the hospital across the road from a cemetery. Apparently, doctors were only allowed 10 dead bodies a year to practice on, so grave robbers used to sneak back to the graveyard after a funeral, dig up the body and then sell it to the doctors down at the pub on the corner! It was a terrible crime to steal a shroud though, so they would always make sure they put that back in the grave after removing the body!

Locked in the tower

On Sunday, Phil had a relaxing day at home while Pete and I ticked off some more of the London tourist attractions. We grabbed a quick lunch in the Pompidou cafe near Embankment station. (They make THE BEST tuna and sweetcorn jacket potatoes ever!) Well fed and raring to go we hit the pavement - through Trafalgar Square, along Whitehall past the Royal Horseguards and into Parliament Square to ogle Westminster Abbey and Parliament House, down to the Thames, onto a city cruise boat and la la la down the river to Tower Bridge.

After being on my todo list forever, I can now say I've been to the Tower of London and done the Beefeater tour! The Beefeaters are the (big furry hats of the) guards who live in the Tower with their families. To qualify they must have served at least 20 years in the army, airforce or marines (no navy!) and have reached a certain rank. The tour is all about executions and treachery - so exciting! We had just enought time to sneak in for a quick squiz at the Crown Jewels and to wander through the very cool armoury where the walls are lined with guns and swords and there are some amazing suits of armour on display. One in particular stands at about 7ft something - a true giant!

By that stage we were over admiring architecture and old stuff, so we called it a day. Phew! Sightseeing is exhausting! I'm really out of practice... so I'll have to get in some more training before our next trip. Bring on next weekend!!!