And a good night’s sleep :)

And some loving text messages.

Oh and people watching over a glass of red wine on a hot summer’s evening outside a cafe in Athens.

Shame so many of the hot guys and girls smoke here. Smoking here is just the norm… inside and out. The shopkeepers smoke in their shops. Puts me off buying their food and clothes…

Went for a walking this morning. regained my solitude. got lost. but saw some sights and wound up near the Acropolis. I should have worn a pedometer or GPS to see how far I went. It was a few hours… so a long way!!! :)

I need to keep this walking up to burn off the calories from the yummy food. Spanikopita for lunch. I prefer the ones from the cafes I frequent back home. This one was greasy… but it wasn’t that great a cafe.

I love the iced coffee. With ice. I had a Freddo Cappucino this afternoon. Cold froth :) Worth not thinking about the conversion back to Euro :p

Though, I haven’t found the pricing here that bad at all. Could just be delerious from the heat though :p

Rish is here tomorrow! We have until Wednesday in Athens, then frying across to Samos island. Rish has until Friday evening there, then heads back to Germany. Then I commence seeing the Greek Islands with his mother until july 30th, when I start the trip home.

*grins*

Sitting alone in an internet cafe in Athens, I slept terribly last night… I overheat very quickly, and as it’s always over 20 degrees at night here, it’s bound to happen. Especially when you are sharing a room with others who get cold before you’ve even gotten down to a comfortable temperature.

Reading emails that make me miss the people I love. Feeling a little isolated, needing to regain that feeling of enjoying the solitude I have, even when walking through a big busy city.

I’m overtired, which is the leading cause. Normally I can deal better with emails that tug at my heart.

Rish will be here in less that 48 hours, and I’ll get to be wrapped up in his arms and hugged to sleep.

Then I’ll sleep well.

Sat on the balcony late yesterday evening, while the others slept, writing in my journal and looking out over the hills and across to the sea. It was cooling down, and it was beautiful.

The same views at breakfast time. By myself, time to myself which is nice in itself, eating the fresh Greek yoghurt and looking ver the hills, valleys and sea.

I love it.

(If only Rish didn’t just email me a copy of a blog post that makes me ache to be with him)

Had a good sleep last night after being up for something like 40 hours :p

Greece is hot, but it’s a lovely change from sub zero at home before we left!

Flight to Athens was nice, uneventful, though the landing was a little bouncy. Not a good one to watch o the underplane camera.

Have been on a bus tour today, went to the ruins in Delphi… Rish’s mum and Granmother are at our hotel sleeping … after having to be moved rooms due to plumbing issues…. :)

Hot happy and smiling. Sweating like crazy. Dinner’s not til 730, it’s 415pm now, so need to fill in a few hours til I’ll want to go back to have a shower. Emails and iced coffee sounds like a good start.

xxx

Fiona

Standing at a free internet kiosk in Dubai airport… I haven’t slept. I’ve watched Shutter, lots of Futurama and Simpsons and have eaten a lot (pics to follow). I still have a 5 hours flight to Greece today - it’s 9am currently in Dubai, am in Athens, but my body thinks it’s about 3pm Sydney time, with only brief biref naps since 6am yesterday morning.

Maybe i’m slowly killing myself but it’s all good :)

I’m getting better at flying - yes including take off and landing. Watched the under plane camera during the landing in Bangkok, and looked out the window for the Dubai landing - fly so low over the houses here!

Best go. Need to go people watch some more!

xxx

Fiona

So in 21 hours I should be boarding the plane.

Yes, a little more than excited *heh*

(Wishing I was in Boon, though…)

I was just sitting down with Mum, going through the photos from her European trips. I think it was making her a little sad, thinking that sha has travelled so little since she’s been married. i remember as a kid, we had three family holidays. One was in year one, to Victoria to visit my Grandfather down there, then year three to the Gold Coast, then again up to Brissie and the Gold Coast in year 11. Mum hasn’t really gotten away an more than that in that time, and since then has had a couple of Syndey and Melbourne long weekends, but not much at all. So, being me, I’m trying to psych her into planning a 2010 trip to Europe, a 30th anniversary of the trip we were just looking at. With new, unfading photos. (and a few more kilos - she was so skinny back then!)

I’m packed, except my toiletries. I have a new bigger memory card for my camera - which i need to charge tonight so I can take dorky photos of my air plane meals and other ccrap. Postcards look so much better than what I can take, so i’ll send you them instead :p

What else to do? Not really sure… sort out what i’d like to watch on the flight - there’s a huge selection :) My plan is to watch movies til Bangkok, then sleep in the BKK to Dubai leg a bit more (at least a few hours!) We’ll see how I go. I got a text message from Rish, arrived safely and very grateful for his sleeping pills - I want!

Will leave here at aout midday to head to the airport - aim is to get a good night’s sleep :) And to remember everything I need! *bounce*

So, Rish is on a plane right now, heading to Malaysia. He left Sydney 2ish, so should get to KL about 10 my time… a couple of hours there, then he’s off to Frankfurt :) So didn’t want to leavce him at Sydney airport this morning - but I reasoned that it’s only a week until we’ll meet up in Athens - it’s the goodbye after that week I’m not looking foward to, because then we’ll have 4 weeks apart!

We had a wonderful dinner last night - at The Chairman and Yip :) Took advantage of their eearlybird deal, drank a ottle of New Zealand Pinot and then went for cake at Cream (hottest waitstaff in Canberra) :D Wonderful to have an evening to ourselves before we had to part.

I’m leaning towards an early night tonight - zonked after a week of late nights and a long day today. Need to save my energy for monday! I’ll just have to come down from my caffine buzz from having coffee with Rish’s parents and the priest… he smelled nice like insense :)

Short hair
Originally uploaded by phonakins

So, I went through with it, with only a few winces. :)

Now I can focus on more important things, like remembering to take my passport!

Last day of work today before … Greece! *squeals and bounces and stuff* (or at least I would if I wasn’t out late yet again last night! These are bad habbits I’m getting into… Probably shouldn’t become a regular at Muddle Bar… even if I do love the people I meet there and the cocktails :p)

Anyway.

I have a few hours this morning at work to do things like sort my desk out, make sure all my files are up to date, all my letters sent ahead of next term. Boring, mundane jobs that are going to need coffee and an ipod to get me through them.

Haven’t started packing… will probably start tonight after Japanese - though still won’t get home from that until 8:30 ish and have to eat dinner, and get Rish to chop my hair off. Figured I’d go for it, make like easier for the month when I’m away. Hopefully I won’t cry or hate it :p But, it’s only hair, and it tends to grow back :)

*gets excitable*

Ughhhhhhhh.

Had the most struggling day I’ve had at work for ages yesterday… I was meant to have early nights on Saturday, but didn’t, and then again on Sunday I was in bed early… and had every intention of crashing out by 9:30pm, but someone didn’t let me :p

So then I hit work yesterday. Get myself in a little early because I was supposed to have an 8:30am artic client (sometimes put a 30 minute appointment first thing for those speech kids who just need that little bit more monitoring on their homeprogram. That way they miss less school, and they take less time out of my day. And no, I don’t like after school appointments. Especially when I’m ratty, the child’s ratty and then the parent’s ratty too. We can always achieve lots that way) but they didn’t show up. Oh well, won’t see thejm until August now.

For a coupleof weeks now, I’ve not had any free appointments until August when I get back. I think my next free appointment is August 11 now. And not until the end of August for those who insist that they can only do after school. Some parents just don’t seem to understand that all the children my team sees are in school, and so no, not everyoe can fit into an after school appointment, even if I did offer them every day of the week. Which I don’t. And I’ve booked out my Monday afterschools next term with a stuttering client, and I think I’ll have another one on the way once I start in with my new assessments for the term.

(argh I hate when my toes randomly start tingling)

So yesterday was spent entering the diagnoses off all my kidlets onto the computer, and all the other info that needed to be on there by the end of the financial year (yes, the system crashed out at various points in the day). Today will be spent printing nots off the computer and filing them. And tidying my desk of all the other things I’ve neglected filing this year. Gah.

It’s amazing how much easier it is to get through when tired when you’re, say, bouncing around in group therapy sessions all day or out on the road visiting schools, but the second you sit in front of the computer, the reliance on coke and coffee just increases …

0.0 I can do it! (3 work days left).