Spotted kitties and that thing called life!: Patience is a virtue...

... and sadly it's one that I lack! I'm currently sat at the dining room table at my brother's house whilst he continues to moan about each and every subject known to man... or possibly just to him! You see my brother could be seen to have everything... a lovely wife, 2 great kids (most of the time!), a nice plush house, a good job, a fairly good social network, and yet still he appears to believe he has the worst life ever! Every waking moment of his life is taken up with moaning... everyone is wrong, everyone is rubbish, no one is as good or as busy as he is, and my favourite of all "I have kids, don't you know".... YES I KNOW YOU TELL ME EVERY BLOODY DAY!! But for all his moaning, I do think deep down that he's actually pretty content... just moaning! He does live in London afterall, which is also full of moaners... the Olympics being the best thing to ever happen to them, as it gives them the perfect excuse to moan!

Having been born and brought up in West London, I too have honed the "moaner" technique, but it is since coming here to "live" again, that I've realised how very irritating it really can be! I mean, yes, we all like to have a moan now and again... I'm doing it now, but does it really improve your quality of life to moan in such excess!

Well, anyway, I'm only here until 15th August and my day job is keeping me pretty busy.... did I mention that I'm an NOC Assistant for the Australian Olympic Team?? Oh yes, that's right, just the once...

It was a fairly emotional week, last week, getting everything tied up before I went on leave, catching up with friends for dinners and drinks etc, then my lovely work peeps surprised me with millions of balloons and Olympic rings all over and around my desk on Friday - which helped wash away some of the nerves and the excitement then began!!

I arrived in London on Sunday evening, after battling my way through the weather and diversions on to four different motorways and over 250 miles! Had a lovely surprise to find I had my own room (my niece has been relocated to her mum and dad's room) and even space to hang my clothes... yay!! You may think that's a little odd, but I'm crashing at my brother's for 5 and a half weeks whilst I work at the Games. I was so grateful that they let me stay I wasn't too fussed where I slept, and when they said I'd be sharing with my 7 yr old nephew, I figured it would be character building... and besides we have the same taste in music anyway! :) Being fiercely independant back home, the room has been more appreciated than anything though!

Anyways... back to Olympic matters! I started on Monday with Rob who is also a Team Coordinator. We had a long 5 hour wait for the Aussie team, who unfortunately left the Village without anyone telling us... it was no big deal, we headed into Covent Garden - still in uniform - to meet the other assistants and catch up with all the goss... returning home at an almost civilised time of 1am... whoops! Day 2 was Tuesday, where we checked rooms, made sure they were still upright and actually had beds etc as expected... luckily they did! The remainder of the day was spent on an extremely important task.... School children across Australia were asked to make and create pictures for the athletes of London 2012, which they did, in their MILLIONS!! We had the super fab job of sorting the pics and putting them up in the athletes bedrooms and decorating the apartments common areas and corridors with the artwork... it was an extremely humbling, and in some cases, disturbing experience! One little chap of about 7 had drawn a picture of a kangaroo beating up a bear, and blood was pouring from the bear... the caption simply said "Australia Rocks"... the picture is now proudly located in the medical space! :)

Today was day 3, and the Village was starting to become more familiar and we're really starting to gel as a team. They're realising that I'm a OCD dictator who doesn't believe in sitting down ever, and I'm realising that we're also here to have fun and that stopping for lunch is soooooo good - plus we get free diet coke and yummy granola bars - uh oh! :) We're being taken out for drinks and dinner with the whole Aussie team tomorrow evening, which I'm really looking forward to!!! When I say "team" I mean the grafters rather than the athletes, who don't arrive until next week.... and before you ask, yes I have sussed out the yummiest athletes, and yes I know which apartments they'll be staying in! ;)

Well, as my feet need to be lanced (poor poor feet... nasty nasty blisters) and I need to do my nails ready for tomorrow evening's celebrations, I shall bid you good night and leave you with a few choice piccies!! xxxxx