Memories from London 2010... part 2

Today I am trying to be a big girl and not complain... I'm fine really!... Wait I'll say that again as I think only the dogs could hear me... I am fine really... As long as I don't try to bend my legs. Which kind of makes sitting, walking and well moving in general an interesting challenge. If you can imaging a penguin waddling (for want of a better term) around the place, bending at the waist and a whole host of other things that would make your local physiotherapist cringe and shudder... well thats was me today :-)

Why you may ask? Well because someone *cough*Eddy*cough* decided to do an honours project that allowed them an excuse to get their friends to jump up and down on a force plate with electrodes attached to their legs, then grab a bar weight equal to 1/3 their body weight and do squats to a metronome until they can squat no more... then they get to jump up and down again to see if anything has changed...

I think someone secretly has sociopathic tendencies *death glares*

Anywho, it wasn't so bad yesterday but waking up this morning was not so much fun :-( and so I am consoling myself by looking at more London photo's from last year, remembering a time when I was warm (because I'm not now), when I could feel my toes (because they are numb now), and when I took for granted my legs ability to bend and straighten without pain and agony (like they do now, although if I am honest with myself my feet did get a little achy from all that walking but the great thing about time is that you tend to forget these things)...

What I do remember is the fact that the city was going through a 'heat wave' and that Eddy and I were punished for making fun of the poor little heat sensitive Londoner's by getting sunburnt (I mean who gets burnt in LONDON of all places!). Which to me, now, seems kind of ironic as I sit here in my Sydney home complaining of this 'freezing' Sydney weather and our sudden 'cold snap'... sigh.

So I'll leave you with that for now...

I am going to go have a shower and see if I can't defrost my poor tootsies.

Much love

D.

Memories from London 2010...

Okay so for those of you who don't already know, I am now no longer a uni student, that is, pending a pass result in all of my final exams I will have completed my university degree and be venturing out into the big bad world (whatever that means... I'm still figuring all of that out).

Please excuse me though, I am getting distracted... I was did you know that it was exactly a year ago (well maybe not to the date but you get my drift) that Eddy and I ventured off on our European extravaganza? You thats right! Over 365 days later and I still haven't got myself around to editing all of the photo's we took and printing them on some medium.

And so, in memory of this occasion and with the knowledge that my finances will not allow me to repeat the trip anytime in the near future no matter how desperate I am to escape this frigid Sydney winter (and to force me to finish editing) I have decided to relive the trip in blog form.

Today we are in London and I'll refrain from saying too much (except OMG what I wouldn't give to be back there right now!).

Much love
D.

Umm... So this isn't kings cross

Just thought I'd let you all know that whilst driving to kings cross (from burwood) to take our American friend R clubbing we managed to get there. Then get lost looking for parking and then somehow managed to make it over the harbour bridge all the way to kirribilli - ie on the other side of the harbour!!!!



So now we are trying to find our way back... I'll let you know how it goes but if no one hears from me in 48hours CALL THE POLICE!

Lol wish us luck.

Until next time.
D.

EDIT: (19th July @ 4:30pm) We survived, got back onto the right side of the harbour, found parking and even had some time left over for some dancing and a few drinks ;-)... as for Bell's comment - I was not navigating and therefore take no responsibility whatsoever! :-P

Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink

I would just like to let all the Sydney-siders out there know (and of course anyone else who is interested) that our dear ‘friend’ Eddy, by her own admission, is the one responsible for all the rain we have been getting in the last month.

If you want someone to blame don’t look to the weather man/woman, pressure systems, global warming or what-not… your scapegoat is right here – wait no, not me! Her, over there!… *points*

It is she, using her very superpowers that were first recorded here, who, due to her extreme jealousy towards all those members of the human race not completing their honours year, has been summoning the rain every Thursday and continuing the downpour through Sunday so that the rest of us have no choice but to stay inside, like her, and be miserable and bored!

(By the way… just a little bit of trivia for you… Which city – London or Sydney – would you think had the higher annual rainfall?)

But I have decided that enough is enough! I will not sit at home in my warm cosy bed scouring the Internet for ways to entertain myself! Oh no… something must be done! And if the rain wont stop, then I will just have to befriend the rain… but is it cool with you all if I attempt to do this whilst remaining relatively – scratch that – completely warm and dry… I will not let the rain stop me!

But is it okay with you if I start tomorrow?

(Answer: Sydney! With an average of 1213.4mm per annum compared to London’s 583.6mm – that’s more than double! – Statistics courtesy of Wikipedia… that’s right guys, we go all out here at thewarmthofsumligh.blogspot.com to bring you the very best information from only the most enlightened sources ;-))

Much love,

D.

The one with the cupcake tower (aka my 21st birthday party)

Cupcakes :D

I'm speechless! no really... I can't think of what to say... but I want to post some pix of my 21st and have been meaning to write about it for the last 2 weeks so I figure I should just stop all the procrastinating and write something.... anything! 

The problem is that I don't normally write about the events per say... more like I find an angle and tell the story through that angle... or at least thats what I think I do... have I lost you yet?

Anyway, thats just what I am going to do... write something, anything, and have a little bit of disjointed fun (and maybe introduce you all to a few of the blogs main characters who for some reason through no fault of their own *glares both suspiciously and accusingly at targeted individuals* have managed to avoid being officially documented)... we'll see how it goes... its more like a photo essay really...

I am truly sorry, I have no explanation or excuse... sugar maybe?

So we start the night with me, your dear narrator, having some not so small issues releasing control of Snappy...

Eddy: What are you doing? (said through gritted teeth as she begrudgingly posed for the photo below)

Darcy: Quiet and let me take this pic, I have to get the settings right so your not all blurry... don't worry I promise not to publish it... sorta...

Eddy: You realise YOU will have to be in some of the photo's tonight...

Darcy: Says who?! Its my party I can do what I want! And I want to take photo's.

Eddy: No *wrestles Snappy off Darcy in a none too lady-like manner* Now go stand over there and pose with people

Darcy: *Sulks* Fine! *Stomps away in a melodramatic manner* Just make sure you focus on me and not some random in the background would you.

Shit! Darcy is pointing a camera in my face... better smile

Which then results in things like...

And... this is Codie (also sometimes known as Cordie - like Cordelia from Buffy the Vampire Slayer... which happens to fit remarkably well with her character... but then I get physically abused for suggesting it. So we'll keep this between us shall we ;-) )

For the record Codie, dear, thank you for coming over the night before to paint my nails red :-D... even if I did manage to undo all of your hard work by smudging, chipping, and a whole host of other atrocities, the polish the second you walked out the front door... :-S... hey they're still good!... Just don't look to close okay... promise?... ta :-D

You can tell we are related right?

Then there was my homies!... ma cuzins... yeah thats right! *gangsta pose*... the brunette in the foreground even taught me the secret handshake (which for the record involves a chest bump), although, considering I think I am one of the last in the family to learn it... well the secret thing is up for debate... :-P

Thats the rest of the gang... we take this whole coming of age, birthday, ritual thing very seriously you know.

For the record, whenever I mention 'the girls' say "going out with the girls", "had dinner with the girls" etc... these beautiful creatures are more or less the people I am referring to...

Oh yeah, let the records show... I am all class.....

And THIS my dearies... is the pipsqueak who left me to dig myself a rather large metaphorical hole here, and didn't even care to throw down a hand or even a ladder to help me get back out... Grrrrr...

And what 21st party would truly be complete without a few lovingly embarrassing speeches courtesy of former 'best' friends... (admittedly though Eddy wanted to kill me the night before because she couldn't write it and "nothing was good enough"... I think she did pretty well)

Oh and did I tell you about how, when I turned up to the restaurant and was introduced to the hostess, she took one look at me and thought it must be a sweet sixteenth party?... Yup... true story that... you can see how impressed I was :-P

Suprise! Little sis (Ariel) who couldn't be there got a stand in (our, for want of a better word, surrogate sister) for her moment in the spotlight LOL... 

Cupcakes by candle light! :-D... Even better than carols ;-P

On the count of three I want you all to help me blow out the candles... One, Two... BLOW!

:-D

Can you tell we are related?

hehehe...

Naw, the little tyke!... Now, where is my bed?...


Skip a few hours, some opening of presents and a little event peviously recorded here and we find ourselves here... on the morning after... with Morpheus' world famous (or at least in my little group of friends) poached eggs... :D

The end.

D.

How many 21 year old girls does it take...

to break a vibrator?

The short answer? 3... and one to watch...

But you don't want the short story do you? Thats no fun! Please, allow me to explain...

Its the night of my 21st birthday party. As per tradition, the school girls have come to mine for a sleepover and ceremoneous 'opening of the presents.' I am about to open the last part of the girls present, one which, I might add they are very excited about... which makes me suspicious... so I take a look at it and notice the shape its wrapped up in... and I look at them... and I look back at the present... and I look back at them... and they giggle - hysterically... and I know, I just know, what's inside...

For some unknown reason...

(you know, it can't have anything to do with the fact that for my 17th birthday party I filled a pass the parcel up with various forms of contraceptive devices culminating with a box of condoms and matching carrots - bannana's were too expensive at the time due to a hurricane in Queensland that summer - toeducate my friends on their options... or the fact that I am caught on a seeminly regular basis in somewhat 'sticky' situations that although mortifying to me at the time, provide much ammusement to my friends on the retelling - if you have no idea what i am talking about read here and here or or here  or here  or well there is plenty more where they came from... but do me a favour and don't [I am only just starting to realise how truely hopeless I am] ;) - no... it can't have anything to do with all of that :-P )

For some unknown reason, these friends of mine decided that my 21st birthday would be perfect excuse for them to enter an 'adult store' and buy me a vibrator... LOL!

Unfortunately though, it was a mere 6 hours before we managed to break it... which may or may not have something to do with the fact that when provoked (although I don't recall by what exactly) I threw my new toy at Eddy shouting "Oh, go think of *insert name of ex boy-toy here*" (hehehe)

I mean, how was I to forsee that this teeny-tiny action would cause her to launch herself at me in rage, starting a grapple/pillow fight that would do many a boys fantasy proud (you see this is why I don't let MTV turn me into a reality TV show... they keep asking and I keep saying no ;-P)... they are stereotypes for a reason right?... I mean really... how was I to know? its not like I'm psychic!

Anyway, we all got involved and in the process lost my toy... by the time it was once again unearthed... it had been broken :-(

I hadn't even had a chance to take it for a test drive yet! :'(

So of course I HAD to go out and buy myself a new one that day (hey! my friends can't be allowed to shop in adult stores without me!)

Want to know what happened next?...

Oh come on... you know you do... ;-)

hmmm... I'll tel you later...

Much love
D.

The 21st Speech that never was...

WoooooooHoooooooooo!!!!! :-D

As if you haven't already worked this out... there are two basic times when I post:

1. When I am procrastinating; avoiding study/assignments/some other horrible uni related thing, and;
2. When I am celebrating! (Usually the submission/completion of said assignment/exam or some other notable life event)

Todays post happens to be the latter, I've just finished an essay exploring the nature of freedom and control in organisations through an understanding of the ways in which employees bodies are managed (don't have a clue what I'm talking about? Well that makes 2 of us) :-D, which means that, yes, I am in fact wearing this cheesy grin on my face as I type... It'll hurt tomorrow but its worth it now :-D

Anyway, as some of you may know, last Saturday was the day of my 21st birthday party. It was a great evening with all my closest family and friends and one which I plan to post about in more detail at a later date (read when I have had a chance to look at and edit my party photo's... which if mum had her way wont be until after I clean up my room, bathroom and presents that are still taking up most of the public areas of the house 4 days later...). But for now I would like to have a little debrief... I think thats what I mean...

You see on this day, the day that was my 21st birthday party, life handed me a test, it was a sneaky subtle one that I didn't see until the time had long passed... and unfortunately I feel that in it I failed. The good thing is that I wasn't the only one that failed... we do these things as a family sometimes ;-). 

But I am evading the issue here... lets get down to business...

What happened was throughout the stress of the day, dad - aka Morpheus - asked me if I really wanted him to make a speech because mum (who I will now introduce as Demeter as I have finally found a name worthy of the woman she is) was already writing one herself. It was a subtle reference to my earlier request that he do everything he could to make mum happy on this day because that is what would allow me to enjoy it ore thoroughly. 

My response was basically a brush off "yeah sure whatever I don't mind, just do what you want"- thats the thing about hindsight... things always look slightly different... I didn't mean it in that way at all, my response was an attempt at keeping the peace and allowing the day to flow as smoothly as possible. It wasn't until later that I realised the true magnitude of that tiny seemingly insignificant exchange and understood that in a way what dad was really trying to do was ask my permission to say something publicly about the person he believes I have become, only he did it in a manner that allowed me to say no if I didn't feel his perspective to be important enough. This became especially significant to me sometime Sunday morning (well thats when I think I figured out what that slightly wrong feeling in my gut meant anyway) when I realised that not only had I cheated myself but I had robbed my dad of one of his own rights of passage in life, that of saying a speech at his first daughters 21st - and this above all else made me sad. 

What I am trying to say here I guess is that there are few times in life where it is really important to fight, when fighting for something, like say a speech, stops being about the fight or stopping 'the flow' and more about symbolism - fighting is the symbolic battle to prove to another person that they are important to you, that you love and value them. 

Dad, subsequently sent me an e-mail with the speech he never said, but these things are supposed to be published and so I present it here to you. I hope that by doing this I do not cheapen its message or those speeches that were said on the night. I love and appreciate them all, and hope you will too...

Darcy – the 21^st speech that never was.

This speech I suppose was intended to be in the front of all your family and friends as a sign of how much I love you and a chance to publically voice how incredibly dear you are to me.

My predilection to avoid conflict and allow others to shine works against me at times – unfortunately I think you have also adopted this trait.

Any rate here we go............

I first introduced you to the world at your christening – little did we know how your critical mind would unravel the various paradoxes of the church and use it to your advantage with a great trip overseas to GER – MA- Ne-Y for world youth day twenty years later.

That speech was punctuated with one particular idea:

“Having Darcy has certainly changed my life”

(At the time my greatest fear was getting up in front of people and making a speech – I suppose that’s why  I wanted you to have this skill from an early age so it would not become a problem for you.)

Well the nerves got the best of me and I must have repeated this line at least 5-10 times. In retrospect I was rehearsing to be a teacher to year 7’s – ‘put those pens down and eyes to the front!!!’

It really works because the audience were nearly reciting the words back to me at the end.

But those words obviously had a deeper meaning because before this time I only had one true love i.e. Demeter – now I was overwhelmed with you – I had fallen in love again – and this obviously makes me silly and in awe of the responsibility ahead.

You were the most beautiful addition to my life. The feeling you get when you hold your warm cuddly child in your arms is indescribable, contentment – awe – responsibility – caring – love.

I remember when your mum and I walked out of the hospital with you for the first time.

I was thinking ‘Do they know what they have done!’

We have no idea how to look after babies – we have had no training – how can we get such a special gift without a guarantee!!!

I am sure they have made a mistake and it will not be too long before they return and take you back.

But after 21 years I still feel so lucky that they let us keep you and we are just carrying you for a short period of time before you can walk by yourself.

Your first day at school was my first lesson in understanding your psyche. I had decided to take a new route to school - your rebuke to me was at first timid so I just ignored you – that was my first mistake – ignore Darcy at your peril!! A tantrum was to follow from which I have always learned.

Darcy is always right.

 “Just try this new soup Darcy”

“No, I do not like soups “saying with a conviction as if she has tried all know soups and has found them wanting.

“Have you tried a soup before?”

“No”

“Then how do you know”

“I just know!!”

No empirical evidence required for Darcy – I think this is why she dropped science at Uni – It was just a waste of time doing all those practicals when she knew the answer  anyway!

It also confirms to me that past lives do exist and Darcy has lived before – 

Why do it a second time!

 Darcy is always right!!

But this can change if she really wants to learn something new – especially to avoid some pertinent assignment.

It is amazing how many books, DVD’s series she can devoir – what concentration powers.

‘Nora Jones is playing again’ – don’t tell me she is cleaning her room – what is being avoided this time HSC studying.

It will all change when she gets to Uni!

How can you get such good marks without doing any study?  Your mother and especially me had to work really hard for our marks.

But little did we know you were always balancing effort over reward. Keeping sane is always more important than great marks.

This attitude has also trickled down into your working life.

You have a great capacity to work as -(insert accounting firm here)- has recognised but you have this wise outlook which enables you to look beyond the immediate.

One aspect of you Darcy that I love is that you CARE.

You care about your friends and you care about us.

Many times at home you have unselfishly put forward a plan to help solve a problem.

Thank you!

Lastly thanks for being a friend to me and all present.

There is nothing more that I enjoy than going out with you and just being in your company - this is a bonus to me – I enjoy your mind, individuality and courage.

Everyone here should count themselves lucky because you have been invited into a rare group from which Darcy will always be there for you.

“Has Darcy Changed our lives?”

Oh Yes and we are continually being amazed and inspired by the results!

Everyone be upstanding for our lovely daughter

DARCY!