A Years Worth of Brainfarts!!

So this is probably of more interest to me than anyone else but I thought I’d put it up anyway! 

I’ve just found a status application on Facebook and it allows you to see the last years worth of status updates.  I’ve loved reading through mine, from the pointless to the poignant, a real trip down memory lane.

January
	has spent the afternoon traveling memory lane and finally picking out which travel photos to actually develop
	is Super-cala-fragalistic-ex-p-al-e-docious or something like that!!
	is off to see the rugby mmmm Yummy men in little shorts
	is very impressed with myself having spent the day in Reading at the rugby then a night out in town and hasnt had a drop to drink – wonders will never cease!!
	had such a good day yesterday but is to old for only 3 hours sleep and is now in serious need me bed!
	brain hurts from filling in a tax return, off to build a snowman now to recover!
	just went to the best dance class, although my interpritation of the steps may have been a little bit Phoebe Buffay!!
	is sick of feeling sick
	has managed nights out with drunken friends in reading and london without drinking – starting to think my halo may choke me!
	cant quite believe i’ve been stumped and out smarted by a toaster!!
	is in serious need of my bed
	is that tired I actually feel a little bit sick
	has only just woke up – how lazy!
	is thinking god help me if they ever ban facebook from the work computers I’d be so bored!!
	has just discovered an £840 tax rebate in my bank account woohoo!!!!This status contains special characters. It won’t display properly in the collage.
	just had to get my passport out as proof of who i am, feeling all happy and sad now, happy at the memories in the visas sad that i’m not still wandering
	got notified earlier that my flat has just been rented again for the next year so I can now start seriously looking at skipping the country again – yippee!!!
	is thinking Thailand for a course…must start saving…and experience and then Japan for a job
	is feeling a little bit woop woop!
	is awaiting test results and medication so I can start feeling normal again!
	interview done, place being held, please god let me be able to find my degree certificate!!
	copy of degree certificate and passport sent…one step closer…woop woop!!
	is in serious need of wine
	is really doing it
	has booked it!!
	is really not looking forward to having to get up in the morning to get to work at normal people start time
	is pissed off that I’ve only been paid half of what I was expecting to get paid this month grrrrrr!!
	is ready for drunkenness, flirtaciousness and lots of dancing!
	should be filling in the job application form for the job I already do but is too easily distracted by facebook!
	application done, now time for fun
	has started drinking!
	thinks its really rude that ob from hollyoaks jumped us in the taxi que
	needs tea
	wonders if 6pm is to early to go to bed
	went to bed early, slept for a few hours and now wide awake again doh!
	Insomnia catching up, need sleep, floor under the desk looking like a comfortable place to pass out
	is driving to the airport tomorrow…wish I wasn’t just the taxi driver and was getting onto the plane
	HEELLLP I’M SO BORED – GET ME OUT OF HERE!!
	is enjoying a really nice glass of red
	wants to know – are you being as real with yourself as you think?
	is feeling a little stressed
	has just been nosy looking at the photos of a friend of a friend and got all excited and nostalgic about the places I’ve been
	is thinking about going to see Slumdog Millionaire tomorrow – does anyone fancy going? Give me a text if you do x
	has returned to my youth and am watching back to the future 2
February
	really should take the dog for a walk but its cold outside and this bed is so comfortable
	is going for a walk to look at the roads to see if it warrants a snow day, on days like these its great not living in walking distance of work!!!
	doesn’t know what to do, would feel like a fraud not going in to work as the road looks passable but if it snows again I wont be able to get home!
	right, gonna risk it eek! The very nice little old man across the road is going to ring me later to tell me if the roads at home start looking bad
	hmmm got to work only to be told 10 mins later that a directive had come from health and safety telling people that lived outside of the city to go home!
	took 25mins to get to work, an hour and 15 to get home…..maybe tomorrow I’ll think twice about going in!!
	flights booked – 27th May Thailand here I come woop woop!!
	want to set up a blog when I go away – anyone know an easy to set up, easy to use one for someone who’s computer illiterate??
	is being interviewed today for the job i already do!
	has been told – unofficially at least That I’ve got the job that I already do that I had the interview for today!
	really fancies a pint
	is a little confused, just got an e-mail saying someone had added me as a friend on bebo – I wasn’t even aware I had a bebo account!
	wants as many people as possible to read “Lost Voices” http://www.investinme.org/LostVoicesBook/IiME%20Lost%20Voices%20home.htm
	did a fat skid on black ice on the way home tonight, was meant to be going straight to bed when i got in but no, wine called for now
	thinks thermals are good when you’re out in the cold but a little to warm on the train
	picked up a Chinese on the way home, ate way too much and is now feeling fat and content curled up in bed
	is spending the weekend with two beautiful girls building sand castles and thinks that it would be nice if the postman delivered something other than bills
	played dressups & read stories, put kids to bed, relaxed with vino infront of bad film, collapsing into bed. Good job am only an auntie i’d never cope fulltime
	is knackered
	bought a book yesterday that is classic Bridget Jones self help stylie & am actually finding it really helpful rather than laughable, that has to be a bad sign!
	is in need of excitment……
	is a little upset having used the phrase “if he was 10 years older……” only to realise that would still be younger than me!
	somehow just managed to eat an entire tub of ben & jerrys oops
	has tried to make up for the excessive ben and jerrys with double gym time today and is now in need of a sit down
	bored bored bored roll on 10.30 roll on June!!
	has just had my first kiva re-payment and want to give it to someone else now
	is looking forward to some dancing tonight and seeing what delights Leicester has to offer
	is half way down one of my dads infamous gin cocktails and feeling a little tipsy
	is making bread
	is a little bit meh
	nearly crashed on the way home to avoid running a rabbit over and then nearly ran over a cat, managed to miss both and not crash phew
	just got paid more than i was expecting, happy days
	is liking todays Twitter from His Holiness the Dalai Lama “Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.”
	needs to go shopping before work but is lacking the motivation
	has to be up and functioning at normal people time tomorrow for a course, yuk
	is excited about going back to my old flat today
	really needs to get my arse in gear and pack and drive
	is in my Reading flat. Cant believe its been 2 years, walking in feels like i’ve come home
	is thinking that if i wasnt going away again i’d so move back to Reading
March
	is enjoying sitting in the sunshine
	Fab weekend drinking & dancing with lovely friends, stayed in my beautiful flat, topped with Si & the girls & a damn good roast
	cant wait for Friday……London baby!!!
	Woooooo London baby………..we are the dancing queens la la la do do do do doo
	has been dancing and doesnt remember the last time i had so many strange men girating against my bottom!!
	has that Monday morning feeling and really doesn’t want to go to work, wish it was Friday night still!
	is drinking wine, watching “the beach” and thinking how nice it will be to be somewhere more exotic again soon
	had lunch from graze.com today and it was yummy! Get yours for £1 using promo code TWHF6GZBThis status contains special characters. It won’t display properly in the collage.
	does anyone fancy going to see London Irish (rugby) play the Paddys day game on 22nd in Reading??
	has lost my voice
	is full of snot and cough
	is having a stress
	is having one of those real meh days and would like to be anywhere other than here
	thinks things might finally be back on track and is starting to stress a little less
	is watching Shallow Hal and thinking I need to find me someone like the post hypnotized Hal
	loves payday
	doesn’t know if I’m commiserating the fact that tomorrow I’ll be too old for 18-30 holidays or celebrating because I no longer care!
	has had a fabulous birthday and is suitably full of cake and wine , thanks for the birthday wishes x
	is thinking the glass of wine at lunch and the chocolates Mandy gave me are making the night go really fast
	thinks I should dance at my desk more often, loving my 80s tracks on last fm
	is entirely freaked out by tonights Criminal Minds and needs to watch something funny before bed
	is looking forward to a night of drinking and dancing
	has just realised that in two months today i land in Thailand woo hoo!
	had an awesome night and has only just made it out of bed!
	still feels rough!
	thinks that todays blood test may come back as 50% alcohol
	Hour and 40 mins and counting……..
April
	is loving the sunshine
	thinks today would be a good day for a bbq…….but no work it is
	just went to look at the photos I had done on my birthday and am very impressed, I’ve never looked so glamorous!
	has only been in work for an hour, 6 1/2 to go and am sat in the office looking out at the students drinking wine in the sunshine and wishing I was one of them
	went out on my bike today in the sunshine and the air was filled with the scent of gorse bushes, all coconuttie, reminded me of MR Zogs surf wax and happy days
	is counting down, 49 days to go
	had a really nice morning today spending quality time (and too much money) with my mum
	really should do some work now……….maybe……
	watching Big feel like a big kid! How cool was silly string, wonder if you can still get it…….
	has discovered why i prefer trains to driving, standing traffic is driving me crazy
	loves my lovely family and all the fun i have with them
	is getting sick of “speeddate” notifications – facebook please note – I’m not interested
	is looking forward to a weekend in sunny Taunton
	has had a lovely weekend but is now stuck in a traffic jam that is moving so little that people are getting out of thier cars and sitting on the grass
	The word that best describes today is “beautiful”
	thinks my job isn’t all bad, afternoon spent working in the park while eating icecream
	has just worked out that I only have 23 working days left before I go to Thailand wooooooooooooooooo )
	is sunbathing. Roxanne just came on the radio, major Cambodia flash back oh the memories, good times
	Bad day at work……. http://twitpic.com/3pznw it could be worse!!
	Heard something that made me think this morning. If your 17 year old self could see you now would they be happy with where you are in life?…….was very happy and a little bit smug to think that the answer is yes for me!
	this time next month I’ll be on my way to Thailand )
	Ok so its not me doing it but it is a very good cause (and Tammy is lovely so please sponsor her) http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/tamsinthurlow
	Feeling a bit traumatized, just heard 30somethings described on the radio as middle aged, surely thats not so.
	The beauty of the places I’ve been to never ceases to amaze me http://bit.ly/z4hmU
	is starting to get excited about heading up north at the weekend to see Carrie, Kev and the Newman baby bump
May
	is tucked up in bed in my old room in Newcastle, only difference is i’m just visiting this time, well, that and Carrie is now married and about to become a mummy – where did the last 8 years go!
	and Carrie made the best Sunday dinner and an amazing apple and toffee crumble pudding, now feel that full i dont know where to put my tummy!
	got my passport back today with my shiney Thai visa in it, 20 days to go
	is hoping some of that euro millions is mine and doesnt want to kill the dream by checking the ticket.
	Really fancy a glass of wine but trying to detox, what to do…..
	Finally sorted myself out with Flickr, find me at http://www.flickr.com/photos/julieamaycock
	is flying away two weeks today
	Why does the need to upload all of last years photos to flickr seem to strike me between midnight and 2am, damn it I need sleep!
	Theres a semi final to Eurovision on bbc 3, its so bad its almost good
	is looking forward to a night of drinking and dancing tomorrow
	is quite possibly still very drunk.
	thinks my girlfriends rock, what i remember of last night was so much fun, think i might be hungover for a week though!
	Can anyone thats been to Chiang Mai suggest a hostel for me to stay in? And is it easy to get from the airport to town??
	has just found out my fancy photos are ready for collection, I’m so excited….
	Its my last day at work in this counrty tomorrow yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
	It’s my last day at work today, I’m so happy
	is loving waterfights and bbqs in the sunshine
	Gaaaaa packing for six months in one place is so much harder than packing for a year on the move, what to take…..
	is getting more excited by the hour
	Tickets, money, passport *check* bag packed *check* too heavy to lift *check* all set to go
	had set off for the train station and realised i’d forgotten my glasses, went home for them, race against time to get to the station, ran onto the platform as the train was pulling in – on route to london now phew!
	has checked in, boarding at 8, now sat enjoying a glass of red watching the planes go by, let the good times roll
	is in Dubai airport – 7am temp 30 degrees, thats some crazy weather.
	has arrived in Chaing mai and am off to bed, nearly midnight and 27 degrees, love it, love it, love it
	has checked into the resort where the course is being held, so far so good. Two days of relaxing now before school starts.
	walked about 20 miles today so why cant i sleep now, its not on.
June
	has a new mobile number  (I think!)
	is wondering who commented on my post because it wasn’t me, guess I’ll find out at the weekend!!
	could feel the sweat running down my legs walking around the market today – ewww! Off for a shower then must do homework, I’m soooo sleepy
	has finished my teaching prep for tomorrows lesson so have the rest of the day off. Think I’ll go for a pedicure and a massage…..my lifes so sweet right now!!!
	is really quite drunk and starting to wonder if swinging through the tree tops will really be such a good idea in the morning!
	is happy to say that I didn’t see the frozen margharitas, whiskey and beer again while swinging through the trees today!
	is so excited for Carrie and Kev today and the iminent arrival of baby Newman
	is cursing the bottle of whisky and is in serious need of hangover food and tv.
	is staying home tonight to lesson plan for Monday (first time teaching proper students) and am excited about driving into the mountains for the weekend tomorrow.
	doesn’t understand why my flickr updates don’t show on here….
	is feeling very pleased with myself, just taught my first English lesson, students didn’t fall asleep or riot and mostly joined in – success!
	is very excited as I’ve just got my work placement. From Monday, for four months, I’ll be teaching kindergarden and primary kids
	is even more please today that I’m going to be teaching young kids as todays lesson teaching teenagers was a bit like pulling teeth!
	I’d quite like to skin my feet at the moment….the mosquitoes seem have started injecting me with itching powder when they bite.
	is off to Bangkok
	has arrived in Bangkok, 7am and already its hot hot hot!
	is looking forward to a night of drinking and dancing in Bangkok.
	Happy Fathers Day Dad
	what i day, need beer stat!
	has had a good day
	is wishing i had a tv or computer or any other form of entertainment as being stuck in bed without any isnt much fun – stupid Bangkok belly.
	is happy to say that it wasn’t Bangkok belly but a 24hour sickness bug and I’m all better now!
	met some cool people last night, played pool and went dancing in a local live music venue, no farangs – other than us that is. Oh, and my new friends live in an apartment with a roof top pool – yeay
	went to see a ladyboy cabaret show last night, it was brilliant! I only wish I was that pretty and thin!!
	has to teach my kindergarden class to dance to “doe, a deer” from the Sound of Music for mothers day……I didn’t know there was a dance that went with it. Tried looking on youtube and it just lots of drunk people!
	is counting down to a long weekend of relaxing on big buddha beach, Koh Samui.
	celebrated pay day with a massage and beer. July   is wondering why when everyones schools are being closed because of swine flu mine is staying open….     has just finished packing to go on holiday tomorrow, feels strange saying that when I’m already in Thailand!     needs to get from northern Bangkok to Kho San Road in rush hour in as little time as possible, I’m thinking its going to have to be on a motobike eeeeek – was nice knowing you all!!!     is back, relaxed and tanned from a weekend of beach fun.     has discovered the “Thailand diet” isn’t working quite as it should and has joined a fancy gym today!! Wonder if I’ll be any better at actually going to this one than the ones back in the UK!     had been planning on an early night, why am I still up?!     is wishing i’d had the early night.     is off into the depths of rural thailand for a weekend on a farm.     has had the most amazing weekend in the country staying with a little old couple, being taught Thai by thier grandchildren, visiting Khemer ruins and helping plant rice in the paddy fields.     has spent the afternoon marking exam papers and found it really hard to consistently grade the answers that were subjective     thinks it doesnt matter what country you’re in, a week before it you still find you have to count down to pay day!     can judge the severity of a hangover by the food I eat. Today for breakfast I went to KFC and had chicken and chips…..its a bad one!!     was still hungover this evening (how is it that any time i drink with fellow Reapers it gets this messy!) drank coke to feel better. It worked, but a little too well, forgot that i’ve not had caffeine in weeks, 1am still wide awake & up at 6am for work     is almost officially not going back to the UK until much later than planned     would love a proper brew right now…….     has just had a really tough lesson with absolute brats and now really needs a beer     Woohoo pay day!!! Time for drinking and dancing tonight and shopping tomorrow   August   is sat in bed typing this on my new computer, I’ve finally joined the 21 century!     needs to stop work avoidance and start writing the test papers for tomorrows class.     note to self – with a little less work avoidance you wouldn’t still be having to writing test papers at 11pm!!!!     is so happy I had to go to the immigratioon office today, I slept all of the way there and back (about an hour and a half in total!) – made up for only having five hours last night!     is starting to think that Mocha, almond, fudge icecream before bed was a bad idea – sugar, caffine and coco = wide awake me!     has taken to wearing long skirts on Thursdays in an attempt to stop my P1 class from sitting on the floor and trying to look up my skirt during the lesson!     Is exhausted, smelly and happy after a weekend hitch-hiking, camping and trekking in the jungle.     take one Cambodia comrade, a Monday night, add beers and bucket = Oh my god tomorrow is going to be painful! Morning checklist -four hours sleep and lots of coffee…..I will survive…..     is getting up at 5am to do a 10km running race, I must be mad!     ran 10km throught Bangkoks heat and smog in 1hour (and 42seconds!) – and I can still walk….yeay me!     thinks there is really something to be said for dinner with friends, too many beers and illegal gambling and still making it to bed by 10pm!     didn’t want to be awake this early but my hangover had other plans!     is sweatier than a sweaty thing thats really sweaty!     just ate a banana, condensed milk and suger roti….fat and suger overload……feelings of sickness….but it was oh so goooood.     hi-ho-hi-ho its off to the farm we go…….     has just found Thai “mi peth” and English “mi peth” to differ some what……..water, need water!     really hates it when you type a mail to someone and then facebook doesn’t send it so you have to type the whole thing again, what a pain in the arse     too many sours squirms, major sugar overload, starting to shake……..     is thinking about doing an OU course, I was always a really bad student in school, I wonder does that mean I’ll be a bad student as an adult?     and Katie have just signed up for another two 10km runs!     my room is like a freaking oven tonight, may have to go to the gym for the air conditioning if nothing else!!     wonders why I always fight sleep, I’m knackered and still not going to bed, why oh why…..     decided that since its almost the weekend and only a few more days to payday I’d treat myself. Went to the western supermarket on my way home from the gym and bought red wine and potato salad – I’m happy as a pig in muck right now…     ran 12.86km through a thunder storm today!     Sat in a coffee shop trying to write end of term exams that I need to submit tomorrow to school but lacking the brain power and inspiration.     Really need to sleep but there’s a ridiculously loud thunderstorm right overhead thats flash-banging at the same time been going on for ages   September   is knackered and starting to think there is such a thing as over-doing it, and no, no alcohol was involved!     is having some serious blasts from the past with the music last.fm is throwing out at me today – love it!     is really looking forward to heading to the beach again this weekend.     is thinking about my two favourite girls.     is off work sick and swinging between feeling guilty when I’m not doing anything and feeling ok to feeling really pathetic when I move! Not moving and another movie it is then..     came back to school today to find that all but six of the kids in my class are also off sick,I should have had another day in bed!     just made myself a little bit homesick looking at pictures of me with different friends and family -just want to let you know you all rock xx     might be heading to the UK for a two week holiday at the beginning of October…..if I can find a flight cheap enough that is!     3rd 10km run = fail. Saturday night drinking and staying in bed till 9am and spending all day sunbathing = success!     is finally living and working in Thailand legally…..its only taken 3 and a half months!     flights and trains booked I’m now very excited about the October holiday     is very excited about my holiday but dreading the cold, its 22 degrees in my classroom today and I’m freezing!     has drank and drank and watched Katie get a tatoo and drank some more and is thinking that singing and dancing with two year olds in the morning will be painful!     is very hungover and doesn’t want to go sing and dance for two year olds     is still more hungover than I’ve been in a really long time, how is that even possible at 10.30pm?     wonders just how sad it is that I’m watching Xfactor on you tube, I’m thinking very….my excuse is that it stops me having to do my lesson plans for tomorrow – work avoidance at its best!     Just had massive cockroach fly into my room, in the time it took me to find something to get it out with its disappeared, yuck where is it?     and Katie Chisholm had good intentions of going to the gym, but the traffic was bad and we were late, so instead of going to the class late we went to the pub and drank beer – a much more productive use of the evening me thinks!     I’m in a sticky rice and coconut induced state of bliss     had a lovely day (that rolled into night) with Katie Chisholm and Kim Render and is now very excited to think that this time next week I”l be drinking wine and heading out dancing with Beth Smart. Good times, good times     is slightly loosing the will to live marking test papers which even when the kids fail I have to alter so they pass even though some of them clearly did no work and have no idea what they are doing!     has only had 3 students fail the semester (thought it would be more!), decided to ignore the advice of my boss – which was to alter the scores to a pass – and make the kids come in on Friday to re-sit. More work for me but I’m feeling all moral and on my high horse about it, its not fair that they get to pass without working, who knows maybe it will make them do a bit of work next semester…….somehow I doubt it!     two more sleeps to holiday   October   has just decorated my room with lots of photos of family and friends and is feeling the love     is all excited about going on holidays tomorrow but also a little sad that the end of the semester means the end of an era, new people next semester have some big shoes to fill……and not just because they’re size 10s!!     just got a message from my brother saying Gwenna (my niece) is counting the days to when I get home every morning when she wakes up. Not long now     is loving the fact that Dubai airport has free wifi and computer battery charge points, suddenly a three hour transit doesn’t seem half so long.     has arrived…..London baby Bbrrrrrrr its cold!!     Uh-oh just on my way to bed, got to be up in three hours, drinking dancing and boys, got to love ‘London baby!’     went to bed later than i normally get up last night/this morning! Dreading the hangover kicking in     cooked dinner today, the first time in more than four months…….it was pretty damn good even if I do say so myself.     is on the coldest train in the world Brrrr     has had a lovely time with the girls and felt a little bit sad when Gwenna said “Auntie Julie I dont want you to go back to Thailand”. If only I could figure out how to combine my two lives!     is knackered!     is indulging in my last cheese and wine night for some time.     Good-bye cold weather and hot showers…….. hello hot weather and cold showers!     is starting to get that spaced out feeling that comes with lack of sleep     is home     is not sure why we had to come back to work today as there is nothing to do this week, not even meetings!     has spent the morning so far watching X Factor on you tube…..work, what work?!     is so angry right now that I don’t know what to do with myself….a beer maybe!     has woken up at 3am for the second day running and cant get back to sleep, think hour going to be a long day     has spen the morning composing and sending an angry complaint letter and now doesn’t feel quite so angry any more     just had a major flash back when ‘black hole sun’ came onto my ipod of good times with Saffy Charles and Jo Heath, arh the memories……     has just signed up for the 10km race at the Bangkok marathon as part of my training for the Anchor Wat half marathon!     wonders if it would be wrong to gym stalk my instructor from tonight?! He’s so hot, it would surely be wrong not to!     temporarily lost the power of speech tonight when the hot instructor sauntered over to me at the end of class for a chat!     wonders what it would be like to work for a school that doesn’t take the piss and expect you to have no life at the weekends!     I’ve been at the gym all week to psyche myself up for applying, I’ve done it, 6th December Anchor Wat half marathon here I come – woohoo!     I was up at 4.30am on Saturday and just going to bed now 2.30am Sunday – I really hope I sleep in in the morning!   November   is sweating pure bacardi breezer!     Note to self, flowing skirt on windy day is not a good idea, the comupter teacher does not need to see you knickers!     just had the best week of lessons with my 13/14 year olds, I finally feel like I’ve cracked it     is going a little bit Latino tonight, bring on the gyrating hips,,,,and the Salsa dancing too!     I’m bored and want to do something but to hungover to move, I feel a wasted day coming on.     Woohoo nearly the weekend, beach here I come….     Sun, sea, sand the texture of flour, massages on the beach…..heaven is a place called Ko Samet.     Just had the most serious hair cut I’ve had for a long time, fighting the urge to swing hair around while saying “because I’m worth it!”     is running the streets of Bangkok, with 50000 other people, at 6am tomorrow morning, wish me luck!!     spent most of this afternoon reading in the park with my eyes closed!     Is 8pm too early to go to bed I wonder……….     has been so cold the last two nights that I went out and bought a duvet today, its so nice to be all snuggled up.     just booked my flight to Cambodia, 10 days to go     says Happy Thanks Giving to my American friends x     is loving that one of my favourite KG3 kids was having dinner at the same place as us tonight and he ditched his parents and came to sit with us and gave us all of his stickers……..what can I say, I’m easily pleased!     last night – great Mexican food, great company, cool ex-pat bars, red wine………..today -1pm and I’ve yet to make it further from my bed than the kettle and tea bags!   December   Dear Santa, for Christmas please can you visit me in Thailand. I would love salt & vinegar crisps and some Marks and Spencers knickers     just got Christmas card from my Grandma     has had a really nice evening catching up on the last two years with Sue Jenkins over dinner and a beer in Bangkok. Met two years ago in Russia and what a two years its been for both of us! Love the international traveling community, wonder where the next two will take us and what country we might meet up in next time!     Oh Siem Reap……we may have only spent two months together in the past but coming back feels like coming home     is covered in glitter and glue after a lovely day spent with the kids at Sangkheum Center.     is feeling full of Christmas happiness having just opened a parcel from my family     just been telling my niece all about my day at Sangkheum Center, she told me she wished she had been with me – it makes me all happy and sad at the same time, I need a teleporter!     has just discovered that I can sit on the roof of my building, and the wifi works up here! Happy days sunbathing while working     is trying and failing to come up with ideas of how to spend Christmas and New Year…     thinks Christmas is sorted……treking, rafting, riding elephants and staying in the hills of Chiang Mai :0     bought things for tonights dinner from Siam Paragon (thats a bit like going to Harrods food shopping!). I’m so excited for eating it; pate, cheese, olives, salad, proper ciabatta, red wine….oh and salt and viniger crisps Maybe not the best meal to eat the night before an early morning race, but sometimes you just have to indulge yourself!!     10kms 1hour 3mins, I wanted to get under the 1hour mark…….still not bad for saying I had a bottle of wine last night, and I’m still suffering from a cough that makes me sound like a dog barking!

The Best Christmas Present!

There are some presents that stick out in my memory as being really awesome; the Sindy Hospital when I was a child, my first Gettoblaster as a teenager, the hamster my brother bought me for my birthday one year, to name a few.  The Christmas present my parents sent me this year is easily up there with the best of them.

I opened a big box to find lots of individually wrapped parcels.

Inside the parcels contained a little bit of Christmas from home.

A Christmas tree

Santa

Mini Christmas cake.

Christmas pudding.

Brandy sauce.

Mince pies.

Welsh mature cheddar.

Crackers.

Red wine.

Southern Comfort.

Playing cards (with Christmas Carols on them).

Instructions for card games.

Balloons.

Christmas table confetti, and

A Christmas card from my cats!

I loved it!  That first bite into a mince pie and suddenly it felt like Christmas.

In all of my 31 years I’ve only spent one Christmas away from my family; that was two years ago when I was in Cambodia.  If I’m honest it really didn’t bother me too much then.  I don’t know if it was because I was out at the orphanage in Siem Reap and around a great group of friends, or if it was because I knew that I would be meeting my folks for New Year in Sydney. 

This year though, I’m finding a bit hard.  I was walking along Surkumvit in town yesterday and all of the way along you could hear Christmas carols, and it made me smile but feel sad at the same time, and really miss home for the first time.  We’re not a religious family, so for me Christmas has never been about God or Jesus.  Its always just been about spending quality time with my family.

The day follows a very similar pattern each year.  It starts with Pork pie (I don’t know why pork pie, but we’ve always done for as long as I can remember) with a cup of tea while surveying the presents.  Each taking a turn to unwrap a present so that everybody can see what you have.  We’ll generally have just finished when Sue and Lloyd, family friends, come to see us on their Christmas morning walk.  Once the present are done my dad will go to pick up my Grandma  Maycock and Auntie Dawn.  My mum, Grandma Allen and I will move to the kitchen to start making dinner.  Once my dad returns preparations are helped along by one of his infamous “cooks nip” martini cocktails.  We’ll all eat too much.  Grandma Maycock will go for a snooze, which will frustrate her because she’ll want to stay awake but her body will have other ideas.  At which point mum, dad, grandma and I will sit and play card games.  This year, if its anything like Sundays – which I’m sure it will be, my grandpa (who is no longer with us) will get the credit or blame for influencing the cards and helping in hands won or lost.  Happy times J

Rather than trying to re-create the day over here, which just wouldn’t be the same, since without suddenly discovering a teleporter I’ll not be with my family, I’ve decided to go for something completely different.  I’m off up to Chiang Mai on Christmas Eve and will be spending Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Sunday staying in a village in the mountains, trekking, riding elephants, and rafting through the jungle.  Think that’s not bad for a compromise, actually, I cant wait……

Cabbages and Condoms

No, not some weird experience I’ve had recently, but the name of a restaurant I went to the other day. 

Not quite so refreshing if chewed!

 

I’ve known about this place for a while, and think its a great idea, but somehow have only just made it there.  It was set up Mechai Viravaidya, the former Thai Minister of Health, with the intension of making condoms, and other forms of birth control, as familiar sight in Thailand as cabbages.   

  

  

  

  

  

  

Santa Condom and his family!

 

 The food was great , but I’m sure most people who go there would agree, the real talking point is the decor! 

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! Its Contraception Man!

 

Stylish enough to be strutted down the catwalks of Paris and London!

Special Moments.

Working with small children I’m sure its fair to say I get more than my fair share of special moments at work.  (I also get some not so special ones too, like telling them this morning that we wouldn’t sing songs anymore because they were being really naughty, they looked distraught!……oh them simple life!!)

Today was a day that I had a very special moment.  Its been Turkish Day at school, there has been all sort of performances, including some Thai dance; I don’t know how that fits in with Turkish Day, other than to show off the talent at school as they were expecting some important people from Turkey to attend (they didn’t!). 

My special moment came when the kindergarten kids did their Thai dance section.  They weren’t very far into it when, as I was smiling at my kids, two of them stopped what they were doing, mid-pose and waved at me.  It was too cute for words

Recovery…..

Monday wasn’t anything like as painful as it should have been, either muscle ache or alcohol induced pain and I’m not too sure why, but I’m not complaining!  

Having had a lazy start to the day I took myself off for an hour and a half massage.  Followed it with a very nice lunch.  I then decided that it was about time I took a trip to the hospital to donate some blood.  I’d always said I’d get around to it one day when I was in the Reap last time, but always found I came up with excuses as to why I couldn’t.  Truth be told having never had so much as a blood test before, and being scared of needles, I was scared it would hurt.  Two years and two blood tests down the line I decided I was brave enough.  It was done by a very lovely lady who was telling me all about, and showing me videos on her phone, of her children.  Actually had quite a nice hour or so just chatting to her, and it was really painless, and made me feel good to be doing something worthwhile.  For more about the hospital I went to see http://www.beatocello.com/Assets/richner_history.html .  

For a bit of recovery I decided on some sunbathing and swimming, followed by another massage!  It was a hard day!!  I think Tuesday passed in much the same way actually (without the blood donation).  It must be the key to not aching after running because I never did feel the post run pain, I may well lose my middle toenail on my left foot though, its starting to look very purple underneath.  

My recovery was finally  made complete on Wednesday by a trip down to Sangkheum Center ( http://www.sangkheum.org/ ), the reason for my being there in the first place.  It was amazing seeing the kids again, how my little ones have grown.  

As we were in 2007

 

Mary 2009 - Growing up fast.

 

I had a really lovely day. 

Tung 2009 – Growing up fast.

 The morning was spent chasing around on space-hoppers and playing tag with arms hot and sweaty stuffed into knitted puppets. 

I spent the afternoon helping Claire with her arts and crafts lesson.  We made Christmas bells out of plastic cups, lots of glitter, and glue.  With the amount of glitter we were all wearing I’m sure we looked like Christmas faries by the time we’d done!  

I loved being back and seeing how much the kids had changed and grown, but couldn’t believe how much at the same time.  How time flies, it really doesn’t feel like its been two years.  

The end of the day came far too soon for me.  In fact the end of my time back in Siem Reap came far too soon for me.  I love my unreal, real life in Thailand but Siem Reap………..thats just in a whole league of its own  

Angkor Wat Half Marathon

Woo-hoo I did it

I was up at 5am and met Claire and Chris at 5.30 am to cycle the 5kms out to Angkor Wat.  As soon as we arrived and were parking our bikes some kids came up to us and told us it would be 1000reil to leave our bikes, thought it was quite ingenious of them capitalizing on the opportunity!

The sky was just starting to get light behind Angkor Wat, it looked every bit as impressive as I remember.  I just had time to watch the start of the wheelchair race and then headed for the start line myself.  Looking around I started to feel a bit nervous, in all of the runs I’ve done before I could clearly see people who weren’t as fit as me, this time though when I looked around my fellow runners all looked like serious runners, they not only had the kit but also the bodies to go with it.  I suddenly had visions of being the last person to cross the finish line!

The run was really nice, needless to say with the location being what it was they were the best views I’ve had.  The support was also brilliant, lots of sections of kids all with their hands out high-fiving people as they went past and telling you to keep going and “you number one!”.  I was going really well up to the 10km point, I’d been telling myself that when I reached 10km point I needed to tell myself that my race was just starting, it did feel like that for a bit.  Where normally I can feel the blisters before 10kms, I was having no problems – compeed is a wonderful invention!  I was also in my stride and thinking I could run forever. 

Unfortunately that feeling didn’t last to the end!  I hit a wall at about 19kms and if it had been up to my body I would have walked the last 2kms.  Fortunately my head was stronger, or more stubborn!  I couldn’t have been going much more than walking pace, but the motion was still a jog.

I spent the last 100meters stride by stride with an older gentleman.  I didn’t want him going ahead and he obviously didn’t want me to either.  We were pushing each other to go a bit quicker, and as we rounded the corner for the last 50meters he held out his hand to me.  I took it.  We sprinted for the line, arms raised   I honestly don’t know where the burst came from, I didn’t think I’d got it in me.  Made for some good finish line pictures though!  ( http://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event_entry.py?event=Sports/CPUK/2009/Angkor%20Wat%20Half%20Marathon;match=Y327 )

 Don’t know if it was the adrenaline/endorphins from the sprint finish, the wonder cream I smeared my legs with, or the banana and water, but I still managed the cycle home….and pretty quickly at that!

We decided, I’m going to say not consciously, for an unconventional recovery process.  Arriving back in town at about 10am we decided to head our separate ways for showers and meet up after for breakfast. 

It started very respectably with a breakfast of banana pancakes, fruit salad and water.  It didn’t take long to go down hill and become a celebratory beer……followed by another….followed by another…and another……and……well you get my drift…….13 hours later.  I have to say though as a recovery process it seemed to work, my legs were being stretched by the frequent walks to the toilet that drinking lots of beer necessitates and the alcohol provided a suitable numbing feeling!

More From My Gorgeous Kids

Fathers day in Thailand coincides with the Kings Birthday so there are celebrations a plenty.  I may be biased, but in my opinion, my KG1 kids stole the show with their performance of “If you’re happy and you know it”.

Return To The Reap

It’s been two years since I was last in Cambodia and in all of that time my love for the place has never diminished.  I’m not sure what made it so special; the gorgeous kids I worked with; the people I met; the friends I made; the guy I had a fling with, who was the type of person I’d hoped existed but who I’d yet to discover really did!  A combination of all of the above I’m sure.

 

Having had such an amazing time first time around, I was a little nervous about returning.  Would the experience, being a different one, remove the rose-tinted glasses that I see my memories though?  I needn’t have worried….

 

The moment I stepped off the plane and breathed in the smell of Cambodia; that earthy, dusty smell, laced with incents, it was like a thousand butterflies had been released into my chest.  The memories, scenes and conversations flashed through my brain more vividly than I thought possible.  A smile spread across my face and has stayed there for my entire visit.  I’m sure on the road into town had my tuk-tuk driver turned around and seen just how much I was smiling he would have though I was crazy!

 

I loved the familiarity of it; from hitting the roundabout that marked the end of the smooth road and the start of the rough on the way out to Sangkheum Center; the place I’d stop for a drink on the way home; or where I’d pick up breakfast, on my way to Sangkheum, from a lady with a cart full of baguettes and some form of meat (I never did know what it was).  With each memory my smile grew and grew.

 

I spent all day on Saturday wandering, or rather cycling, down memory lane.  Through the streets in town that remain, as the saying goes, same same but different.  And then on out to Globalteer House, (happy days there ) - which is now a tarmac road – no more trying to avoid potholes the size of craters that it seemed you could lose your entire bike into.

 

And then there is the food, every bit as good as I remember.  Lunch was fish Amok in the old market, and a dinner of Khmer curry, with Claire (one of my fellow volunteer friends from my first visit here) in Khmer Kitchen - great food, great company.  There was just time for one last cocktail, and a bit more reminiscing, in the night market before it was time for an early night in preparation for the following mornings half marathon….. 

Angkor Wat Half Marathon – 4 Days To Go….

The count down is on and I’m all excited!  Partly for the run and partly for being back in Siem Reap.

I spent two fantastic months volunteering in an orphanage called Sangkheum Center for Children back in November and December 2007.  I could have never imagined the effect the place and the people would have on me before I got there. 

Whenever I’m asked where my favourite place is Cambodia always comes pretty high up the list.  Its a country with massive problems, but as a tourist you find yourself shelided from the majority of them, and all you really see are the smiles. 

Despite the wealth of tourist money that enters Cambodia, very little of this money filters down to the average Cambodian.  Malnutrition is common among Cambodian children – 45% are moderately or severely underweight. 41% of the population has access to safe drinking water – only Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Somalia have less access to clean water. Cambodia has the highest under 5 mortality rate in the East Asia and Pacific region. Some 61,000 Cambodian children died in 2005 before reaching their fifth birthday.

I really want to give something back to a place that I think does an amazing job………..

“Since 2001, Sangkheum Center has given hope to over 260 orphaned, abused or neglected children. Sangkheum (meaning hope in the Khmer language and an inspiration for HOPE’s name) Center is a residential home for 48 children plus an education and training center for over 160 children from the surrounding areas. Additional scholastic support and supervision is given to children between 4 and 17 years of age.

The curriculum embraces both general education and vocational training. The children and young adults have access to primary and high school education and the opportunity to learn and develop valuable life skills through a number of activities including Khmer culture, traditional dance and music, handicraft design, dressmaking and iron welding. The children also attend English language lessons and play sports.

Sangkheum Center for Children is a successful working project between the Italian NGO Progetto Continenti and the Khmer Angkor Organization (KADO). The combination of international aid and local co-operation has provided an ideal partnership to ensure the future of many Cambodian children.” (http://www.hopeforcambodia.org.uk/projects/sangkheum)

I have set up a just giving page (http://www.justgiving.com/Julie-Maycock)  please support me in supporting them

Bangkok Marathon Day

Having thought that getting to the start line on time on Sunday morning would be a nightmare from outside of town I decided to stay in town the night before the run.  Figuring that the cheapest accommodation near the Grand Palace would be around Kho San road, that’s where I headed……..I was a little dubious about how much sleep I might manage though!  The place I stayed in, on the road adjacent to Kho San, was quiet enough, if fact when I woke up not long after midnight there wasn’t a sound to be heard – what a pleasant surprise!

At 6am Sunday morning I walked through the drunk people on their way back to hotels, beer in hand and staggering, or slurring very loudly at tuk tuk drivers where they wanted to go.  A very different scene awaited 10 minutes walk away as I approached the Grand Palace; people all decked out in the latest sports wear running up and down the street, legs on railings getting the pre-run warm-ups in.

What a scene it was, the sun lighting up the clouds in a beautiful array of colours as it rose; and the clouds in turn making the gold of the Grand Palace sparkle.  The Palace looked so much more spectacular in that early morning glow than I had seen it before.

There was a pre-race warm up routine going on when I arrived, a mass aerobics class led by a couple of girls on stage.

There was also a guy doing his own little session!

It was followed by Bangkok Universities Cheer Leading group, from what I saw they were pretty phenomenal!  They were performing at ground level so I couldn’t see anything until they started throwing the girls into the air, one girl did a full summersault 12, maybe 15, feet in the air – its got to take a lot of practice and a hell of a lot of bottle!

The cheer leaders finished, the horns blew, and we were off!  The sheer amount of people meant it was the slowest start to a race I’d done but for the first few hundred meters I didn’t really mind.  I did start to get a little running rage when I found myself having to skip around people who were walking about a mile in…..seriously, if you know you’re going to walk at some point why try to be in the first few thousand people to pass the start line, whatever happened to the race etiquette that says you put yourself where you wont get in other peoples way!

The crowds thinned out though and the race was awesome.  It took us from the Grand Palace, around and over the Rama VIII bridge – a really impressive structure, especially with the sun starting to come through the clouds behind it. (For more race day pictures click onto my Flickr page)

It then took us around parts of town that I’d either not seen before, or I’d seen but was completely lost when I was in them and had no idea where they were in relation to anywhere else!  (I think to find my way back to somewhere I knew I’d needed to get a taxi).  The final few kilometers of the race looped around past the Amulet Market, along the back of the Grand Palace and along the side of Wat Bo where the view was of the giant reclining Buddha. 

The race ended where it started, one hour and seven minutes later for me – I would have liked to have been under one hour but blame the time on the slow start and stopping to take the odd picture along the way.

At the end of the race I picked up my medal and smothered my legs in the wonder cream they had, it’s a bit like deep heat – same, same but different!

I decided against the post race snack that was provided by the sponsor – McDonalds!!!  I could think of nothing more unappealing.  The only time, in my book, that its ok to eat McDs at 7.30am is when you haven’t gone to bed yet or you’re really hungover!  Instead I headed back to my hostel for a shower and the out for a breakfast of sour coconut and chicken soup with rice, it’s never too early for that, I think I’m slightly addicted to it!

Breakfast was followed by a foot massage……it’s a hard life I lead!  It wasn’t quite so pleasurable as ones I’ve had in the past.  I’m sure the lady took pleasure in causing me pain.  Probably did me the world of good though as she found all of the points on my legs that I know normally cause me pain the day after a run and dug into them, it made me squeak a bit but I could walk normally the next day.

Feeling excited now about the Anchor Wat half marathon in a couple of weeks, and picked up loads of info after the run for upcoming events.  I may even do the Chiang Mai half marathon the day after boxing day, watch this space…….