Time just keeps on flying bye...

...seriously where did November go exactly?

November entailed yet a few more big parties...Mark’s work colleagues wedding which I mentioned in my last blog, as well as another big party... a hen party for Miss Janice Waters before she heads off to tie the knot in SA in January next year!

As most of you will know Grease is one of my all time favourite movies, so much so that when I was younger (I need to add...much much younger, junior school days), I used to go and ‘play’ at my friend Michelle Szabo’s house every Tuesday after school, where we proceeded to act out at least one of the scenes, usually the end scene of Grease. Me having the blonde hair (albeit short) thankfully always got to play the part of Sandy, whilst unlucky Michelle (who had long brown hair) got to play Danny Zuko. So the truth behind me knowing the entire script of the movie has been revealed...what now remains is the why? :) Ever since then, every dress up party I have been too, I have tried to find a way to work in a Sandra Dee and Danny Zuko outfit for Mark and I...but to no avail... until now! You guessed it... the theme was Grease and I for the first time ever I got to be a Pink Lady! We were kitted out with pink lady jackets, and even some beautiful shiny ‘leather’ pants were supplied (although I can’t quite say these made it out of the packet), and the outfits were finished off nicely with some period fit glasses.

Janice was dressed up as the ‘not so innocent’ Sandy, kitted out in some shiny tight ‘leather’ pants and off the shoulder top, with a beautiful blonde wig and of course some red shoes! Janice was a great sport, because let’s face it, not many can get away with wearing an outfit like that and yet somehow still look good.


I am pleased to report that I was not alone out there in my Grease obsessed world. I found out that another fellow ‘pink lady’ there that night, Nicky (another blondie) could also recite the entire Grease movie should the challenge ever arise...unfortunately as yet that challenge has yet to present itself to either of us! But I’m sure it will have its uses one day! :)

It was a great night out, firstly with some snacks and games at Ang’s house before we all headed out to Clapham, where we learnt how to make cocktails at the Peacock Burlesque bar, before heading on to another bar, where we could cut some shapes on the dance floor till the early hours of the morning....and where Vicki AKA Lindsey L kept us entertained!

The rest of the month continued at a rapid pace, with another girls night, this time a girls night in... catching up, watching X Factor and eating, eating and eating some more!

Mark was kept busy too with a bachelor party and boys night. This time it was Luke’s bachelors which started off rather early the one morning, with simulating golf session in central London, before heading back closer to home to watch the rugby, have a spit braai and get up close and personal with some kind of rubber pipe.

The weather decided to let us know winter was in full bloom, not to mention Christmas knocking at the door....which made travelling in to work entertaining as always with some big snow dumps! This too made our trip out to Bristol to see the Grandparents, Aunt and Uncle and cousins quite a pretty one...where instead of the usual green fields signalling the way out of London, they were beautifully dusted in white coatings and some completely white!

We arrived in Bristol the last Saturday morning in November. The boys went off to watch the football, while Mark made himself comfortable watching the Rugby and I got to visit Santa’s Grotto with Aunty Angela, Zoe and Seren. Seren (who is just under 2 years) was ever so good listening to Santa tell his story (quite a different story from my day...modernisation of the times indeed), although when the time came to sit on his lap for a photo, she wasn’t quite so keen. We then looked around the Cadbury centre (no, not the chocolate factory) which is a huge shop with all sorts in, from animals, to clothes, to food, to plants and not to mention the most divinest Christmas displays and decorations.

We had a great take away dinner on the Saturday evening, with Grandma and Grandad Cooper, Angela and Phil, Paul, Zoe and Andrew, having a feast and a good old catch up, which we worked out was the first time since Mark and I have been married and even before...so very long overdue.

Sunday morning we headed off to Grant and Megan for a delicious country breakfast, which consisted of homemade muffins, freshly made croissants, yoghurt with warmed confit, which were all very yummy. Their little home is so lovely and you definitely feel like you in the country with their log fired oven in the middle of their lounge as their source of heat. It was great to have another family catch up, which again was way too long overdue! Before we knew it though, it was time to head back to the big smoke and get things ready for what was one of the busiest weeks of my life at work.

With the Christmas season almost upon us, I was given the task of organising the Tax Directors’ Academy Christmas lunch. We decided on the New Armouries room in the Tower of London as the venue and it was really fantastic to be involved in organising a function at such an iconic venue.

The irony of it all is that one of my last few days of my time left in London (before our move to Dubai) was spent across the river from where I started off 8 years before in London, working at City Hall, where the two sides of the river are divided by my most favourite of all London Landmarks, the beautiful Tower Bridge. Not to mention that it is almost a year after our wedding and I landed up organising an event almost as big as our wedding – with similar numbers of guests, invitations, flower arrangements, place settings, seating plans, menu tastings - the absolute works. Regardless of the snow causing havoc with transport, and some of our guests not being able to attend on the day, I am pleased to say the event went off very well and hitch free!

Next stop is Zanzibar and the much needed (and deserved) sunshine break!

So...

...the crazyness that is the month of October has now come and past!

And it’s good to know that all the friendies (bar just a few) are now all in their 30s too!

We had some awesome parties...from a cocktail birthday party (for Mrs Blake)...

An 80's cartoon and TV character dress up birthay party (which happened to coincide with Halloween) for Shona's birthday party...






















A farewell for Bee at London’s oldest wine bar. I unfortunately missed Murray’s birthday party, but instead got to babysit little Harper...who has given me a complete false impression of what is to come, as she was an absolute angel! (Seriously...how cute is she?)

As of last week, we have managed to unpack most of the boxes that we moved from the garage to the lounge (all except our wedding presents, which I’m still waiting ever so patiently to open and unpack...almost a year later). We will get there yet!

We finally had the carpets fitted in our new place (the 3 bedrooms below), the painting is now complete too and things are really starting to take the shape of a nice new home now (besides the fact that we still don’t have cupboards...apart from just some hanging rails).












So it really has been a busy busy month...and November has pretty much started off with a similar big bang (not to mention the literal big bangs for Guy Fawkes too)!

We have already attended a wedding (for Tim, one of Mark’s colleagues) in Tunbridge Wells. They had their ceremony in a lovely old church and the reception followed in an awesome little barn! It was our second English/English wedding we have been to (the first being Zoe and Paul’s) and considering we hardly new anyone there, we had such a good time and danced the night away and it was quite nice to get out of ‘London’ itself for a weekend.

The coming month brings some more festivities and crazyness before the December month even gets underway, with Stag do’s and Hen parties and just a good old girl’s night! Fun times ahead!

*Singing* I'm freeeeee....

...free from 'learning'!

Woohoo! The exam is finally over and now I am finally free!

I wrote my literature exam on Wednesday, which unfortunately didn't quite go as well as it possibly could of...and which may result in my first fail ever...but for now I'm not actually worried, because I am free to do as I please! I am taking a break from the studies for the first time in a year and 9 months!

I decided against signing up for my next course straight away (otherwise I would have already have started it by now...) and instead I shall now only restart in February. Thus allowing myself a much needed break! What a year (and more) this has been!

Oh what to do with free time again! Bliss!! :)

October the very busy Birthday month...

...has arrived and the birthdays are already in full swing!

So I should probably start by wishing everyone a Very Happy Happy Birthday!

We not even a few days into the month and already the birthdays have been kick-started with Jenna and Aunty Angela's birthdays on the 1st, as well as Grandad Cooper's on the 3rd! Still to come we have Celeste's 30th, Poenie's, Grant's 30th, Murray's, Aunty Julie's, Angela's 30th and Shona's 30th. So we have already indulged in some lovely dinners and will do some more indulging with a fair few more parties this month!

If that wasn't enough birthdays already...yesterday it was my lovely Hubby's 33rd Birthday!

As most of you know Mark is always up in the mornings before me and on most days even at work before I get up, which kind of makes it hard when you do want to make him breakfast in bed! This morning I did however manage to get it right (well not quite breakfast in bed...but breakfast nevertheless). I snuck downstairs whilst he was in the shower and managed to whip up some eggs on toast. OK not quite gourmet...but the it’s the thought that counts right? :)

Whilst he drank his tea and tucked into his eggs, he opened the cards he had received in the mail and I had been collecting over the last few days - so thanks to the Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents! Usually I have a million and one little presents for him to open, but this year there was only one...which makes the ‘present opening’ session rather quick. But I am pleased to say he was very chuffed with his gift...a diving watch/computer(from his dive buddy for life...hehe), which we hope will be used quite regularly in the months to come (if you don’t already know...watch this space).

His day was completed with a 4 course home cooked meal (which have been few and far between since we have moved into our new home and even the last few weeks in our old place - so I thought it might be nicer than going out this time) and dinner was accompanied with some vintage champagne.

The 3rd October, marked another very special occasion...not only was it Grandad Cooper’s birthday, but it was also our 3rd anniversary of our engagement (we haven’t hit our 1st wedding anniversary yet, so can still celebrate our engagement anniversary! :) For our engagement my bosses at work very kindly gave us a 1998 vintage bottle of Laurent Perrier Champagne to mark the occasion in October 2008 which we hadn’t gotten round to drinking yet. My sister and family also gave us some lovely champagne glasses with our names and engagement date printed on them, which were also aptly pulled out for the occassion ... As of late we have many many things to celebrate and so what better time to drink it.

Again wishing all of you whose Birthday month it is a Very Happy Birthday...and many more to come! :)

Less building site...more home!

Progress!

As of yesterday the builders left! Mark and I spent the entire day cleaning and eventually I even managed to unpack a few boxes in the kitchen. The dust and dirt upstairs was in abundance, but I am pleased to say it is now fairly liveable. We even managed our first home cooked meal last night...Mark’s favourite...Fajitas!

The house however is not quite completely finished...the carpets still need to go in (and be chosen) and the painting needs to be done. Mark has taken off the next 3 days to make a start (and hopefully a finish) with the painting. Our friends Bronwyn and Luke (who have just moved back to London from SA) have moved in for the week - Luke is currently on the job hunting circuit so has kindly agreed to help Mark with the painting in amongst his search! So hopefully by the end of this week, it shall all be done! I can’t wait! The two weeks of living in upheaval (how the builders managed it for 7 weeks I don’t know) which was 2 weeks ahead of schedule - whilst only a short time it has felt more like age and I look forward to celebrating the final completion, hopefully in time for Mark’s Birthday in just over a week.

Molly Mouse is still trying to get used to having free reign of the entire house and to date has only had a small taste of the outside in 2 weeks (she made a dash for it yesterday, but Mark grabbed her tail, before she completed her escape). Last night, was her first night of having full range to wonder and explore the house through the night and she proceeded to give us a rather disturbed night’s sleep...(practice for kids no doubt, I think she could actually be worse than a child). She took herself off downstairs a few times in the night, but since the house is larger than our last one and obviously being newly ‘finished’, it is still rather empty, I think she found herself a bit lost and lonely, as once downstairs she would let off this almighty meow, that we normally would only hear when she was in her cat box waiting to see the vet. The little princess wouldn’t let up either till we finally gave in and fetched and brought back to the comfort of our bed. Much to our dismay this pattern continued a few times in the night...however on the occasions when she did finally make her way back upstairs, she made a point of announcing herself...which was almost as bad has having to go and get her. So here’s to hoping she has customised herself today whilst Mark has been around, so that we can get a more peaceful night’s sleep tonight!! We also shall look forward to her making her ‘outside’ debut... YAY to no more litter box!! Now we just have to hold thumbs she likes the neighbourhood and manages to find her way back again in one piece.

But other than that we have settled in nicely...I will post some pics when the painting is all complete.

The Grand Drive adventures...

...of Molly Mouse!

Saturday morning the final move from Amity Grove progressed and we took our last car loads full and 2 loads in Ruby (Amy and Nick's travel wagon) off to Grand Drive. Before we had even thought through the logistics, since Amity Grove was now basically empty....Molly Mouse decided to go walkabout...clearly not very happy about having her home dismantled and empty. We hadn't quite thought about locking her inside until it was too late...and her decision to give us heart failure had already been made. After the final offload we came back to get her, in the hope she had returned from her morning adventure....but of course she hadn't! I stood on a bar stool in the garden, looking over all the neighbours fences (as she always seems to come from that way when she does reappear) calling her name for about an hour (regardless of the fact that she is rather deaf)... unsurprisingly she never appeared! I was distraught!

Mark phoned our new tenants-to-be (who are allergic to cats and not cat lovers) to let them know she had gone walkabout and to please call us when/if she returned. They were supposed to move in around 12h00 and come 14h00 we still hadn't heard a word. Closer to 5pm we finally got a call...it turns out the tenants had only arrived at Amity Grove very late with their van load, and when they opened the door there she was! I have never been so relieved and so happy!!! We of course went off straight away to fetch her and when we got there she looked a little dazed and confused... sitting near her cat flap and where her food normally was (now being close to her dinner time). The catbox came out, which she eyed out with complete and utter disgust, but before she had time to make a run for it again, Mark grabbed her and commenced the struggle of what you would swear was the most tortuous thing in the whole world! We left the tenants in peace and took Molly to her new home!

After lots of moaning and groaning, she finally started to settle down in our room in Grand Drive and as soon as our bed was made she was on it and happy as Larry! Relieved and hungry, we headed off to Nev and Jen, who had kindly offered us a sushi dinner invitation, which we readily accepted.

On Sunday, once the builders had all gone out for the day, we decided to let the Molly Mouse of out of our room, so she could explore the rest of the new house. Bearing in mind that the building works are still underway, and there are still a few floor boards up here and there, where the builders have been working on the wiring...we watched the Molly Mouse discover her new home (seeing her on the stairs is hilarious...she can’t quite decide if hopping or walking up them is easier!)

After much adventure and exploring, we thought it safe for us to carry on with things that needed to be done, and left the Molster to do her own thing. Not 5 minutes after our backs were turned, she started performing again.... scratching and meowing as if her life depended on it...

We set off in search of her, thinking she might just be stuck behind some furniture and boxes somewhere... But of course, she wasn't...instead she had managed to find the one hole (next to the washing machine) that we weren't able to pick up any other floor boards around it....and instead of staying where we could see her she set off to roam around under the floor! Mark eventually managed to coax her back to the hole until he could see her and proceeded to pick her up by the scruff of the neck and bring her back to the surface!! Hopefully that was a lesson learnt well (for Molly that is) and one that won't be repeated again now until the new flooring has been laid...but until then I guess Molly Mouse’s adventures will continue...

As for our own Grand Drive adventures...things have come along very nicely! Most of the inside is now done (apart from the painting, which is up to Mark and I to complete) apart from the kitchen tiling and all flooring which will be done at the very end...and which the builders are hoping to finish by the end of this week! The outside has made huge progress too, with the paving out the front and the deck out the back now complete too. All that remains outside is the garage/outside room to be completed followed by the turf. It's all very exciting...and we are looking forward to seeing it all complete very soon. [pics to follow]

Good-bye Amity Grove...

...a sad day indeed!

Tomorrow our much loved, little home for over the past 4 years... will become somebody else’s. Well that’s not entirely true, as we will still be the lucky owners of such a little gem, but as of tomorrow Amity Grove will have new tenants.

Last weekend entailed the ‘BIG MOVE’, where we packed up most of our stuff...and boy do we have a lot of stuff...to move it into the new house in order to prepare for the week ahead. Neville very kindly helped Mark with the heavy stuff, as my ‘guns’ just didn't quite cut the mustard!

The rest of the week entailed a clean of what we thought was an incredibly empty house, with just the sleeper couch and some other bits and bobs we thought we might need over the next week. An entire new paint job all round - care of Mark. Lady Muck did help with a wall in the spare room...but in my defense I was catching up on some last minute readings and preparations for my assignment which was due on Thursday AM (and I’m pleased to say it was the 14th and final of a rather heavy work load this year...next up the exam...ai jai jai).

Anyway the week passed with a few hiccups along the way...our boiler which was due to be serviced before the new tenants moved in,(and which had never given us a problem in all the four and a bit years) of course decided to cause havoc. One small problem, soon followed suit with a fair few bigger problems much to ours and our pockets dismay. We were extremely lucky though to have my lovely cousins nearby (who had just moved in round the corner), who let us use their shower as we pleased...and not to mention the meals on wheels (aka Amy), who very kindly and thoughtfully kept us in check with our meat and veg quota for the week, with stews and lasagne, as opposed to take-aways we would have had...which was VERY WELCOME!

Thursday night came...Mark went to carry on painting the new place and I stayed to pack up the remaining bits and bobs, as the cleaners were coming today for the final clean. The bits and bobs turned into a massive amount...seriously I don't know where it all came from! Nevertheless we got it all packed and shall endeavour to get it all across to the new house before the tenants arrive at midday tomorrow.

The biggest move of all will be for our little Molly Mouse! We have discovered the neighbours at the new place, on one side have a lovely (although Molly might not agree) white Labrador which should make it rather interesting! I guess the test will now be to see how much she really loves us or Amity Grove... But hopefully she takes to the new house soon and continues to entertain and amuse us.

So it's Good-Bye to Amity Grove which has been an absolutely awesome home, with lots of good and happy memories!