2009 photo-retro

2009 has been a year of ups and downs - as are most years - here's a photo retrospective of my year... something on the decade to come some time in January...

Snow... there was lots of snow this year - starting in January, loads of it in February and then again in December...

February saw flowers arrive at the office for me! First time I've ever had that happen!

February also saw my first professional football match - Liverpool vs Real Madrid - in Madrid, Spain.

While there I managed to take in some of the sights... including this art exhibit in the 'crystal palace'.

...and the cow parade that was all over the city...

In March I went on holiday with my love, Tom, to Edinburgh... this is on the way up to Arthur's Seat.

A view of the city with the castle in the distance...

Tom and I at Edinburgh Castle

Tom and I on the Royal Yacht Britannia

In May I happened upon a fun fair in Hampstead Heath with a few friends after we went there for a picnic

In June I went on a weekend away with my love to Brighton - went to the pier and rode the rides...

We also went on an afternoon fishing trip where a nice man took this fab photo of us!

In August we went to Thorpe Park where we rode the (better than Brighton) rides

We had an amazing day!

In August I celebrated yet another birthday with great friends!

In October I went to Ukraine for my second professional football match - England vs Ukraine World Cup Qualifier - this is St Michael's Cathedral in Kiev - see previous post for more on that...

And finally I celebrated Christmas afternoon with my love and his family in North London.

By evening I had a fever of 102.5F, was told I had swine flu and spent the last week of the year in bed. Now here is New Year's Eve and I'm still not well enough to go to work - or go out :( So it'll be a night in with the telly... Here's to a great year gone and a better one to come!

Happy New Year to you and yours!

'tis the season

Time for an update! I know I promised to write more, and this is me trying!

The past few weeks have been pretty stressful for numerous reasons, the least of which, Christmas is coming.

I'll start with the worst news first. At the age of 99 11/12, my amazing grandmother passed away. That's right, a month shy of her 100th birthday. Many of you who know me well, know that I was really close to her and it hit me harder than I thought it would. I mean, really at that age I should have been expecting it, and I was, but nothing can really prepare you for it.

The last time I saw her was October 2008 when I was in Canada to renew my visa. I drove to Barrie (about 7 hours) and stayed at my uncles house. The next day I picked her up and we went for lunch at Tim Hortons (her idea) and then for a drive in the country. We stopped at a local farm and bought the last of the seasons strawberries and some apples.

Then we drove north to Midland to visit one of her good friends who had been placed in a care home up there. She didn't get to see much of her as it was about an hour's drive. We sat out on the patio and ate some strawberries and chatted for a while. They were both so happy to have an impromptu visit. The next morning I brought her some Timmy's for breakfast and had to get back to Ottawa to return my rental car.

I knew then, as she likely did, that it was probably the last time we would see each other. And it was. There are so many things that you think of after the fact that you wish you had said or done. I have those regrets, just as anyone does, but I know that I had a great relationship with her and that we both took full advantage of that relationship while we could. I hope wherever she is, she knows how grateful I am for having had the time I did with her, and even more so for the hundreds of letters I got from her in my life. At least I have those to keep her close to me now and always.

I wouldn't be who or where I am without her influence in my life... May she rest in peace.

Winifred Jane Mavor (Briggs) January 7, 1910-December 4, 2009

I feel like I should start a new post for the rest... but here it is...

About six weeks ago we (my department at work) were told that two of the eight people in my position would likely be made redundant before the end of the year (or very soon after). We were told there was going to be a 'consultation period' where we would have the opportunity to try and come up with other ways to save money and to discuss the reasons behind the redundancies in depth. After two weeks of stressing and coming up with ideas, we were told that we were safe for now. Apparently there is a very big new contract that has come up and they feel that if they lose us they may not get it. What happens if we don't get it anyway? I don't know. There is still a feeling in the department that this is little more than a stay of execution. We'll see. There are still a few other people (not doing the same job as me) who will likely be out of a job in January regardless. And one of our editors has already left. We were all very sad to see him go and his presence was missed from the moment he left.

With unemployment at an all time high in the UK, it isn't a good time to be out of a job. I think a lot of us are looking for work elsewhere now just in case.

With Christmas fast approaching money is always tight, and even more so this year for some reason. Maybe because I have so many people to get pressies for... It's like I have two families now, with Tom's side and Lisa's family (who I have traditionally had Christmas with, and old habits die hard). Then there are friends that I feel I have to get something for as well. I hate all this about the holidays... buying shit that people don't want for people who don't care one way or the other. Everyone keeps asking me what I want, but I don't know... There isn't anything that I really need and anything I do actually want is too expensive or hard to get... I kind of just want to say screw the whole season and f*!k off somewhere hot. Oh well, maybe next year.

Well, this hasn't been the most positive post ever, has it? There are some things to be thankful for... my health, my loving wonderful partner in crime Tom, the fact that I still have a job, that my awesome friend Kim is moving to London as I write this, I'm sure there's more, and I promise to try harder to get into the Christmas spirit, I'm just not feeling it this year... maybe it's the lack of snow or (real) cold? (ha! had to get the weather in there somewhere!)

Happy Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanza...etc... to you all and a very Merry New Year!

update, Ukraine, update, Ukraine, update....

I know, I promised to write more... well, this is more! I'm still getting back into the swing of it... and it's not as if I don't mean to write, I just don't find the time... Or rather, I'm going to blame it on that.

So, last time I was excited about going to Ukraine. It was definitely an experience. The following is partially from the document I had to write for the insurance company for work... I've added quite a bit though...

"We landed on flight BD 851 from London Heathrow to Kiev International at about 3:30 PM on Thursday, October 8th. The football match we were covering was on Saturday, on the other side of the country in a city called Dnipropetrovsk.

After passing through passport control (which took ages) we proceeded to the luggage pick up where we found that one of our bags – the oversize one carrying our tripod and monopod – was missing. We had had to bring this bag to a special drop off point at Heathrow. While we were looking for it another passenger told me that she was also missing her oversize luggage from the same flight.

My colleague (let's call him Joe) made the claim at the lost luggage counter as he had checked in the bag. The woman at the counter told us it would be delivered to us in Dnipropetrovsk as that was our final destination. She also told us to call the next morning to find out where the luggage was and when it would arrive.

I proceeded to customs where we had to have our carnet (an official document listing the equipment we would bring in and out of the country- cameras, lights, cables, etc...) signed before entering the country. When the customs agent asked if we had all of the equipment listed I told her about the missing tripod.

Over a period of about three hours it was conveyed that we would not be allowed to enter the country with our equipment if any one piece of it was missing. We tried to reason that it was the airline that lost our luggage and would be delivering it to us, but that was not accepted by them. Even after showing them the proof that we claimed for lost luggage.

After another two and half hours of trying to haggle with them to let us bring our cameras with us, we were forced to leave the rest of our equipment in a locked room in the customs department at the airport.

At this point we had met at Heathrow at 6:30 in the morning, flown to Kiev, stood in the queue for passport control for an hour and a half, and then sat and argued in customs for about five hours... we were tired, no exhausted. Keep in mind, there is no food or water in customs and at no point were we offered any or a way of getting any.

We finally got to our hotel at 10:30 PM (Kiev time, so 8:30 PM London time)...

Joe and I missed our 7 AM train to Dnipropetrovsk as we couldn’t leave Kiev without our camera kits. I was disappointed about this part more than anything. The trains there are like the old fashioned ones, with individual compartments, like the kind in old spy movies... I was looking forward to that. Oh well.

BMI couldn’t tell us where the luggage was when we called in the morning, but we were assured by someone that it would be on that day’s flight from London arriving around 2:30 PM. We called the lost luggage number given to us at 2:30 PM to see if they knew whether it was on that flight or not and they told me to ring back in an hour. I called again at 3:30 PM and was told, again, to call back in an hour. I called back again at 5 PM (giving them an extra 30 minutes) and no one answered. I called again for the next 15 minutes and no one answered, so Joe and I headed to the airport because we knew there had to be someone there and either way we were going to get our equipment.

We had spent the majority of the day in negotiations with the British Embassy and customs trying to figure out a way for us to get our camera kits if the tripod didn't arrive. We had to prvide copies of loads of documents, as well as a letter written, in Ukrainian, to customs. I have to say the Embassy was amazing with all of their help. They translated everything that needed translating and sent it all to the appropriate people.

We arrived at the airport at 7 PM on Friday evening, and after some delay, and without any assistance, managed to get the tripod and monopod (which had arrived on the 2:30 flight) returned to us. We then had to spend another two hours in customs to retrieve the rest of our equipment.

While we were in customs, we were supposed to be at a press conference and England training photo call in Dnipropetrovsk; we missed them because of our missing luggage. So that was more than half of our job that we couldn't do.

The office, back in London, arranged for us to stay in our hotel another night, though we had to change rooms, and booked us on a flight for the next (Saturday) morning's 11 AM flight to Dnipropetrovsk.

The only good that came of the lost luggage was that I actually got to spend about two hours wandering around Kiev.

Independence Square, Kiev

St Michael's Cathedral, Kiev

To buy beer you choose by looking in the window and then order it from the shopkeeper who is behind glass...

A street like any other, Kiev

Life in Kiev

So on Saturday morning we went to the airport, three hours early, only to find out that check-in only started an hour and a half before boarding. (Another 3 hours racked up in Kiev airport!) We got to Dnipro fine, checked into our hotel, ate some lunch, had a nap and headed to the stadium for the match.

Lenin Statue, Lenin Square, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine

Karl Marx Ave, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine

It was definitely an interesting game. England had already made it to the World Cup, but Ukraine had to win or they wouldn't make it to the next round. Well, they did score, but only because England scored on itself.

Early in the match the Ukrainian fans decided it would be a good idea to throw flares onto the pitch and the English goalie, setting the pitch on fire...

ooh! What's going on over there?

See the firemen?

It was interesting to say the least.

I could write a whole novella about the whole trip, but I'll just say that the food was the same in every (and I mean every) restaurant, the people weren't very friendly, and there wasn't anything particularly interesting to see... It just seemed like the whole country was suffering from a really bad communist hangover.

While I am glad I got to have the experience, and I probably wouldn't change it, but I also wouldn't wish it on anyone...

***
Coming up... the really important stuff about life in london, work, love and, of course, the weather... stay tuned!

oh, heck...

I've done it again... left this far too long... At least I'm here?!

Not much to update... I sprained my knee two weeks ago. I wouldn't recommend it. It wasn't properly diagnosed at the A&E (Accident and Emergency) and so I guess I didn't take enough care with it... so went to the doctors this week and he told me it's sprained... hrm. It's feeling a million times better than when I did it... woke up to find it the size of a melon... but it still just feels really unstable and when I go up or down stairs I can hear and feel it 'click'... not a good sign, but getting better slowly... wish it would hurry up and get better though... especially since I'm off to Ukraine in four days!

Yes, I'm going to Ukraine! Not somewhere I would normally choose to go of my own volition, but kind of cool that I am... It's a work trip to cover the England vs. Ukraine world cup football match. It was booked before England were a shoe in, (which they are now) so it's more of a friendly than anything, but that's ok... think of all the beautiful footballers' I'll get to goggle at!!! And potentially meet... Becks just to name a biggie... anyway, it should be kind of fun... I will definitely post some pictures and write about it when I get back... that is a PROMISE.

uh, sorry.

I suppose I should have written something here in the last nine or ten months. Lazy? Bored? Uninterested? All of the above? I guess some and all of those and much more. Hopefully I will start writing again... I just kind of fell out of it, really... I probably don't even have any followers out there anymore, so I'm not sure who I'm writing this for... myself?

Anyway, I'm sorry for falling off the face of the internet.

For now, have been listening to Amy Winehouse Back to Black on repeat... can't get enough of it... Her best song by far.

goodnight and good luck.

Home sweet home?

It seems I have been searching for a home since I left mine in 2006, a few months before I left for Korea. I had been living in the same apartment for seven years (!) and was so comfortable in my life there that I had to move to the other side of the world to pull myself out of the rut I was in.

Mission accomplished. Right?

I suppose. Since then, I have become a very different person, some new good qualities have emerged and there are probably some new bad qualities that I may not recognise in myself (any help on that one is appreciated), but I think for the most part I am a better person than I was when I 'left home'.

I think my desire (back then) to stay in one place, and not move, came from the fact that I had been moving all my life. Every two years when I was a kid and my parents were together, and then I left my mom's house as soon as I hit 18 and was able to. I guess I never really felt like I had a home. So, throughout most of my twenties, I lived in this wonderful (if a big dingy and old) apartment with some great (and some terrible) people, until I decided I was far too young to be so comfortable in life.

So, here I am, two and a half years later, living in yet another foreign country and I've decided to make this country/city/culture my new home. Not like Korea, which was always going to be short-term, but like that apartment that I found in my twenties, London will be home, for quite some time.

Now I just need to find that physical place, a space all my own, somewhere in this vast city that I can actually call home and not 'my room'.

I've been on the hunt for about a week and a half. I've given notice to my current flatties that I'll be out by the 1st of February. It's not easy here, though, to find somewhere that lives up to (or even comes close) to that feeling of home that I had in my apartment in Montreal. I know it always takes time for these things, I know I didn't feel 100% at home in the first year I lived there, so maybe I just need to give it time? The problem is, I haven't even seen anywhere that has the potential of being "home"...

I'll just keep looking. I know it's got to be out there somewhere. Everything else in London has fallen so perfectly into place and all I'm missing is a good home... so I know I'll find it... I'm just so tired of searching.