Cant think of a title........

Hiya,

To start where I left off, my weekend in Cardiff for Bart's Birthday was really nice. We went to that funfare on the Saturday and it was really fun. The rides were really exciting..one was so scary it made me feel uncomfortable even. I had thoughts the whole time that I was going to fall out and splatter on the ground below. On the Sunday night, I took him to an Italian Restuarant for his Birthday. He had a spicy pasta and I just had a pizza, much to his disgust, haha. He even said how can you come to an italian restuarant and just have a pizza....but, that's all I felt like at the time to be honest. Wasn't really in the mood for pasta. After we got home, once it had hit 12am...I brought out my surprise birthday cake I had bought him, full of candles spelling "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" . He was really surprised and couldn't believe I had hidden the cake almost all weekend. After he blew out the candles, I went and brought out his pressies. He got a T shirt, a Darth Vadar bobble head (He loves Star Wars) and a funny Farting Champion medal thing. This past weekend in Cardiff was pretty quiet, we didnt get up to much as the weather wasn't too good. I had said earlier in the week how much I was missing moms mac and cheese so Bart said we would make it on the weekend. On Saturday night, he decided we were going to attempt to make it, so we went shopping for some things and got home to try it. Everything went to plan and by the time the sauce was done, it was looking pretty much the same as moms sauce. And once it was served, it looked like moms mac and cheese too. As for the taste, well it was good, but the cheese taste wasn't quite the same, which was to be expected as Mature cheddar cheese is different here than the type we get back home. But all in all, it was a very good meal!! :)

Nothing too exciting going on at work, still the summer timetable, so always lots of naughty kids to kick out the pool every other day. I've finally been booked on my Defib course, so that will be on the 14th of October at my centre, so that should be cool.

At the moment, am really enjoying watching the Olympics, well, the little I do get to see anyway. Its so different everything being from a British point of view, so I didnt get to see any South Africans really, besides a few swimmers. But, we are pretty much nowhere at these games anyway so I guess I didnt miss much.

I put up the newest pictures I have from a few weekends in Cardiff....Enjoy!!

Anyway, time to go enjoy the sun on my day off...while it lasts! Will write again soon.

Update

Ello everybody,

Just an update with a few bits of news...

Firstly, work, it's going well, getting lots of new staff at the moment and theres been 2 lifeguard courses held at our centre in the past 3 weeks. Its always interesting to see the newbies while they are on the course..and laugh at the way they do things..yes of course, I was once in their spot and im sure I was laughed at...but its just too funny watching them. Working alot of early shifts more than other shifts these days, so I'm up at 4 45am most mornings!! I bet you all dont believe it ;)

Today I had my first pool rescue. There was a group of local kids having a session in the pool and a few couldnt swim. While the teacher was talking to them about things, 2 of them jumped in the deep end...and one couldnt swim..he panicked right away, realising how deep it was and his friend tried to help him, but just made it worse because he pushed him under water....this of course all took a few seconds...I had seen it all, and had to jump in, bring him to the surface and tow him to the side of the pool. He was ok after it all, but is gonna go to the doc for a routine check up after a near drowning as water in the lungs can lead to secondary drowning.
It was all very fast and quite scary, but it showed me just how important my job really is.

Last weekend in Cardiff, Bart and I went to the Bay to see a live show. It was pretty good, lots of music, dancing, kinda acrobatic stuff, fireworks and foam! I will put the pics up as soon as I get them from Bart. Am off to Cardiff again this weekend as it's Barts Birthday on Monday so I am taking him to dinner one of the nights. This weekend there will also be the UK's largest travelling fare in the city so we prolly gonna go to that too. Cant wait!!

Last week I played my first game of softball since last season...and finally got my team shirt and nicname....I got named "Foo-Foo". They say its a cute name for someone young so thats why they chose it, but when i googled it, I found out it was Miss Piggys poodle dog....hmmmmm ??? LOL....I will put pics of the shirt up for you all to see soon. It was great to play again, i sure had missed it. Hopefully i will be able to play the last game of the season next week or the week after..not sure.

The weather here has been amazing the last week and a half. Was up to 30.9 C a few days ago, and is about 25 and above most other days. Hopefully its gonna carry on and be a good summer.

Otherwise, not much else happening that I can think of. Im really looking forward to Dad coming over and seeing him and going travelling down the coast with him at the end of August. :)

Hope everyone is well, as always, miss u all.

Take care and will write again soon.

XX

1 Year Anniversary

Well the day has come..and very quickly I might add. Today marked 1 year since I left home and it was filled with mixed emotions. For the most part of the day, I was at work, so I was busy and not really thinking about things. But, of course when I got home in the afternoon, I was able to think of how I was really feeling about everything. All I can say is, I'm glad and very gratefull I was given the opportunity to move over here and experience life for myself. Times have been very hard but also very good. I've learnt more than I could even explain about myself and about things in general and have developed a greater deal of confidence. I know that things will start looking better and better as time goes by, and certain decisions and moves are made and I'm excited about that. There is just so much opportunity here, in so many ways and I'm dying to grab them.

Sometime in the near future, I want to move out of London, not too far, but far enough out where things are not so expensive. Living in London is really expensive as everyone probably knows/has heard, its just crazy. Saving money anywhere I can is always on my mind as I want to be able to travel around the country every now and then and make little trips to places....and of course...to save up so I can visit SA!!!

Probably the thing most likely to change first is my job. I really like it, the people, the members (well, some) and the place....and I've become sooooo comfortable there, basically my second home...but the problems are it's just too far away from where I am living and I do not get paid enough to live comfortably or to save anything each month. So, I'm looking for a new job at the moment, but being a little bit choosy with it...there's a specific leisure centre I wanna work at, which is 15 minutes on the bus away from my house, so it's just a matter of waiting for a vacancy to come up. In the mean time, I'm spending as much time learning different things from different departments at my current job. Am half way through a First Aid at Work course...and gonna go on a Defibrillator course soon too. I have been having mini lessons from one of the Duty Managers on how things work in the plant room. Things like how the pumps work, how to do the pool tests, where chemicals go..and get stored, etc. I think the more I can learn now, the more I can take to any new job I get and could possibly apply for something higher than a lifeguard eventually.

Another anniversary coming up soon is the 1 year anniversary for Bart and I. We met at the end of August last year and I've been going there almost every 2, sometimes 3 weeks since. Its amazing, considering the first few times I went there, I never knew each time if there would be a next..but it all worked and now things are going well. I owe alot of me being able to survive over here to him. He has been my support over here and has heard all my moans and worries and of course shared my excitement and happiness. Being able to go away to Wales and get away from London and being able to do things with him and see places, etc has been the biggest help and is what has led to me lasting. Knowing how I've felt at times in the last year, I really think without his support I would've crumbled and just wanted to give up and go home. Of course, I'm not saying he is my only support, my family has been very supportive too, but it's different when that support is 1000's of miles away.

I put a few pictures on my RANDOM PICS slide show, some old ones I hadn't put up all the way back in March when we had the snow...and then a few newer ones. A couple of my room with my duvet from home after I got back from my SA holiday. It really makes a difference having it on, makes my room feel alot more homely and feel like its mine, rather than some random room im sleeping in.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for their support over the last year and for the support to come. Love u all and miss u more each day. And of course, thanks for reading, all your comments and of course...putting up with my lack of news sometimes. :)

XoxoXoxoX

Party in the Park

Helloooooooo,

Just wanted to put a few pics up here from the party in the park this past weekend. A few of us from work went to Hyde Park on Saturday to celebrate one of our workmates birthday. I only went for about an hour because im sick with the flu at the moment so needed to get home and rest for work the following day.

In these pics are our new Duty Manager David, Me, Hannah from the Hall team, Karen-Admin Manager (only in the bottom pic) and Ray-Operations Manager

It was a really nice sunny day...and we have been having many lately so I hope its going to be a very nice summer. Im off on a First Aid course from tommorrow and am looking forward to it. I always find courses like this fun.

Besides that, not much else has been going on. Been to Cardiff a few times lately of course, and Bart really liked all his pressies from SA. Talking about pressies....Bart bought, along with some of the birthday money I got from my parents, a Nintendo DS for me along with a few games to get me started for my birthday. The game Brain Training is really fun and something I play everyday on the way to and from work. You do maths, reading and memory type challenges to keep your brain healthy and every now and then you can do a brain age check to see how old your brain is...the best possible score is 20...and so far, my score is 26, woohoo!! LOL.

Well, with my 1 year anniversary of leaving home just 3 days away, look out for my next post then, should be a long-ish one. :)

Much love to you all.

XOX

Just an Update

Hello everyone,

Firstly, sorry, it has been a while since my last post. But, I was home in South Africa, so you all know what I was up to, so you havent missed much.

Well, I have been back a week already. My flight back was ok, had a pretty nice seat so was able to sleep a bit more than usual. Upon arriving in London, I got throught Passport Control very quickly as they dont need to ask any questions like they always do. Once I picked up my bags, it was just a short wait for a bus and then 30 mins till I got home. Didnt do much for the rest of the weekend, it was very hot, got up to 27C on the Sunday, so all I did was go out and buy a fan for my room!

Back to work on that Monday...it was good to see everyone, well most people anyway. As for the rest of the week, was just the usual stuff, nothing really exciting happened. On Friday, I left to go to Cardiff for the weekend and just got back from there yesterday.

Was a nice relaxing weekend. On saturday was FA Cup Final Day, first time Cardiff City were in it in 81 years, so it was a huge occasion. Bart and I went down to the bay where they had put up a huge screen, and we watched the game there. Unfortunately cardiff lost 1-0 so there were no huge celebrations afterwards, so we just headed home. On Sunday, we slept in a bit, then later in the afternoon, went swimming. Came home, had very yummy dinner and then had to rush to the bus station for my 7pm bus.

Dreading work tomoro of all days, only because i have the people i like least at work on my shift with me. But I'm going to try be a zombie and just ignore them all day. Then might go out for a birthday drink with a friend. Otherwise, just a quiet day.

Will write again soon when I have more to say, Miss all my family already!!! But it was so nice seeing all of u.

Lots of love. XOXO

Dont mess with a lane rope

Oh dear, how could I forget the swimming story!! Thanks mom!!


Well, 2 or 3 weeks ago, we had a swimming gala held at our centre. One of the schools who use our pool for their swimming lessons had booked the large pool for a few hours, to have their school gala. So as lifeguards, we had a few things to set up for this event.

Everything had been running smoothly, we had done everything we needed to do, just needed to put one last lane rope in the middle of the pool. All the kiddies were there sitting on the poolside, all the parents sitting on the balcony chairs, the timers and announcers waiting and setting up last minute things....and me, and my manager Nicole, finishing things off with the last lane rope. So she is at the deep end, im at the shallow end, both holding a side of the lane rope..and pulling it across, a task i have done many times before without problems.

Its quite heavy, and takes a fair amount of pulling...so we both pull in turn, slowly moving it along the water, to the middle of the pool....when Nicole pulled a bit too much from her side. Well you can guess what happened, I fell in wearing my trousers, trainers, undershirt and golf shirt as well as having my radio in my pocket. The worst bit, was as I landed in the water, i just heard an explosion of laughter! I tried to stand up, but my trainers were slipping on the bottom of the pool. Eventually I got on my feet and looked towards my manager laughing, her mouth was on the floor, she couldnt believe what had just happened. I hooked the lane rope in, swam over the the steps and climbed out, still being deafened by the laughs from everyone.

She came over to me and kept saying she was sorry, but I was laughing so much and said not to worry, she gave me a while off the pool to go get changed, luckily I had shorts and my flip flops in my locker, so was able to put those on, and just wear my work fleece jumper on my top half.


My manager STILL feels bad to this day, but it really was so funny. After I was changed, and back on poolside, watching the gala...I had many parents and teachers asking me if I wanted another swim, or If i do that often, etc etc. Too funny!


Giggling like mad thinking about it now...

My Snowy Easter

OMG!!! (Oh My Goodness-for those who dont know) IT SNOWED TODAY!!!!


This week has been very busy, worked early shifts all week, including Good Friday and today, although today I was sent home sick at 11 30am. Its been very chilly the last few days, this morning in particular, extremely cold.....that I had to wear 4 layers!! Yeah, thats not like me at all, is it!! Since January, its been predicted to snow in London 3 times....and on 2 occasions I got my hopes up....and nothing came. So when they predicted snow for the Easter weekend, I was like yeah whatever and didnt think anything of it. Well, on my way home from work on the train, I noticed that it had started lightly snowing, just as I was approaching my station. I couldnt believe it, managed to send a text about it, but no sooner had the text been sent, it had stopped. I thought, you must be kidding me....that better not be it!


I got home, and was just chilling and lying in bed, still feeling nauseas, when I saw out my window it was falling again, this time, alot more. Not really snow as such, just lil icy balls, lots of them......but hey, its the closest thing to snow I'l get, so im calling it snow. That lasted about 5 minutes, then it stopped again. And once again about 30 minutes later, it happened again. This time was a whole lot more, and I leant outside my window, snapping pics of this. I decided I could not pass up the opportunity to go walk in it, so I went to the store just around the corner, and took some pics outside. It was great! So pretty!


I got back home, and inside, hands frozen and got up to my room. Put my food down and looked outside again, and this time, snow was falling, real snow flakes.....so I now can say, it did snow in London today. That lasted about 10 minutes, then stopped and the sun came out, but it is still very icy cold outside. I have my window open of course, so thats how i know. HAHA.







I have a funny story to share, it happened a few weeks ago already, but haven't managed to write about it, although I told my parents and Grant, they said it was too funny not to share with everyone else. So here goes:



A few weeks ago, late one night while I was asleep, I dont even know the time anymore but we're talking like after midnight, I was woken up by my bed shaking and hearing the door rattling. This rattling is a familiar sound if I have my window open and dont put somethin under the door to stop the wind from making it rattle. But the bed shaking threw me...and I woke up thinking...damn, its windy! I lay in bed a bit puzzled and thought, nooo, wind cant make my bed shake like that, maybe i was dreaming and shaking in my sleep or something....so...i decide, best way to test that theory is to try re-create the shaking. So, i started shaking myself while lying in bed, to try get the same feeling I had experienced minutes before. It didnt work, it wasnt the same. Me shaking myself, didnt make the headboard rattle like it did the time when i was woken up....I just thought oh well and went back to sleep, forgetting all about it the next day at work....untill....I was on the tube on the way home, when I read int he newspaper about an earthquake in the UK, and that tremors had been felt last night in London. I was like OMG thats wot it was!!!!! Couldnt beleive it...scary!!

On a general note, work is going well still, we have 4 new lifeguards and are still getting 1 or 2 more, as a few left in the last few weeks. They all seem nice, one young sweet guy, one weird crazy guy, one overly shy guy, and one of the swimming teachers who works at our centre already, with the swimming company. They fit in well, and we have them off to a good start, by picking up the good habits, and not the bad. Well, thats because, the bad habits left with those lifeguard that left, sorry to say. Its always just a few people who dont care about rules and regulations and make things difficult for others. But there are gone now, so things are alot better. The General Manager (GM) has commented on many occasions on the improved standard of lifeguarding and has commended me on being the person that has achieved this. In our full staff meeting 2 weeks ago, I was awarded a bottle of wine as a thanks and a well done, for my standards and committment. I felt really pleased and proud of myself. Its really a great place to work, and that enthusiasm and passion for the people and the job shows in the things I do within the centre.

I cannot wait for April to come, 4 weeks untill I come to SA....wooooooohoooooooooooooo!!!!!!
I have 3 weeks off work, so lots of time to spend with family and friends!! And of course, to just chill out at home and enjoy all those things I (wrongly) thought I could go without.

I have FINALLY got photos I took from the last few months off of my mobile, I wasnt able to before but finally got them off, so i put them in a new slide show. Have a look...

Best be going now, gonna eat the rest of my pooh bear easter bear I got from Bart :)

Happy Easter to everyone, I hope you all have a great day!

Oh and lastly, SEE YOU SOON!!! (It sure does feel great to say that)

Night Out with Friends

Once again, its been a while!!

Have just been busy working, working and more working. Its going really well, enjoying it and absolutely love seeing and being with the people I work with. My 3 month review is coming up this month, time has just gone by so quickly!! Once Iv had my review, I will get a special membership card which gives me highest membership and access to any of the Cannons health Clubs in the country. I also get one for a friend or family member if I wish to have one. Pity there are no Cannons Clubs in Wales!!

On the 26th of January, 6 of us from work (4 lifeguards, 2 gym guys) went out for the night as one of the lifeguards, Damiano, is going back to Italy, so it was a little leaving dinner that was organised. We went to an Italian Pizzeria in Fulham where Damiano used to work, a very nice, quiet place with great food!! We all met up pretty late, as some were working that night. Once we got there, we had a few drinks and had some bread. I was introduced to the tradition of eating the bread dipped in Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. I was hesitant to try it, but Tony(Gym guy) sitting next to me kinda made me....haha. Im glad he did, because it was kinda good. We then all ordered our food, we all decided on pizza's, and they bring them as metre long pizza's with different 25cm sections as opposed to individual pizza's, very cool! I had ordered a parma ham, mozzarella and fresh rocket pizza, it was delicious!! But also tried some of the others as we all had bits of each others. We didnt manage to even finish it all, we were all so full eventually. After a little while, we had dessert. I had chocolate mousse and some of Tony's tiramisu. Again, I had said no thanks to it coz it had coffee or somethin in it, and he made me try it again, saying you could hardly taste it, so I did and it was amazingly yummy!!!! I was pretty chuffed wif meself for having tried the bread, the pizza with the rocket and the tiramisu. We all just chatted for a while afterwards and then it was going on 12am so we had to go.

We said goodbye to the others and I left with Sanaz(Lifeguard) and Saeed(Gym guy, ex-lifeguard), they are brother and sister from Iran. We were all going on the same bus, just to different tube stations. Along the way, one of their friends happened to be around, so he stopped and picked us up at one stop and he drove me to the station I needed to be at. Sanaz and Saeed were going out to a club for their cousins party, so they dropped me off at the station and then left for that. Well, as I got to the station, the man was closing the gates, I had missed the last train!!! Stuck in Central London at 1am, wondering hoe to get home, especially because I live so far out of Central London. So I called Saeed and told him the situation and they came back to fetch me. They were gonne be staying at their uncles house in Kensington that night so they said they would drop me off at the house and I could spend the night and go home the next day. The house was amazing, sooo huge!! I felt soooooo posh to be staying there, haha.

The next morning, when I left, I walked outside and had no idea where I was as when we got there, I was too busy chatting and didnt see where I was, so I had to google to postcode on google maps to see where I was and what the closest station was. Eventually I got home after a very long, fun night. We took a few pics at the restuarant, so check under Work Pics.

Besides that, not been out much. Spend alot of time at work, even when finished my shift, I stay there and swim and chat to people or go to the gym. Saeed or Tony are going to do a program for me, so will start that as soon as it gets done.


This past weekend, I was in Cardiff again and we finally went to the new pool that opened there. Its a brand new centre with an Olympic sized pool(50m) and a seperate leisure pool, with 4 slides and a lazy river and lots other fun things like you would find in a waterpark....like the old waterworld. We swam a few laps in the big pool, then went on to the other pool. We had to queue a while to go on the slides but they were fun once we went on them eventually. Otherwise just swam about and relaxed in the pool for 2 hours or so. It was very busy, so couldnt do much else. We went back to the big pool after a while to swim a few more laps, and then back to leisure pool for a little bit more and then went home, to watch Six Nations rugby.......to see Wales beat England.....HAHAHA!!!

Working this weekend, so I have a day off tomoro. :)

Will definately make more of an effort to update this every week. 11 more weeks till i come home to visit, I cannot wait!!!!!!! Miss you all soooooooo much.