Happy Christmas!!!

Hope you are all well and good and having a lovely Christmas. It's not officially Christmas here yet, we have another two hours to go, but I have some Skype calls to make and then some sleeping to do. Big day tomorrow after all.

xxxx

I like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain...

(Caribbean Adventures part IV)

Well, I actually prefer my Pina Coladas virgin, and I'm not all that fussed on getting caught in the rain, but I doubt Rupert Holmes really did either. That's not the point. By the time I left I was in an awesome mood and my life feels refreshed. Possibly I just like the cliche, but it put me in the best mood I've been in for ages. And I've been in a pretty good mood anyway.

Since I've last posted, I have seen a man climb a coconut tree, had a lesson about coconuts (it was really for the kids, but hey), eaten waaaaaay to much coconut, walked through the jungle in the dark at night with two kids after our golf-cart light stopped working, and been caught in the rain and had a (virgin) Pina Colada within ten minutes. Not even intentionally, I just asked what they had and took a fancy to Pina Colada (the kids had virgin Pina Coladas the other day, they're super-tasty). Why a virgin Pina Colada Sam, that's not like you. Yeah, I know, this is possibly the first time in the world I have ever ordered a mocktail for myself. But it's not like I actually like rum anyway. Plus I had to drive home afterwards. A golf cart that is, not a real car. I still can't drive those. Although I'm thinking I might start lessons when I get back to London, after all this practice around the golf course. Cause, you know, driving an actual car in London is totally comparable to driving a golf cart around a resort in the Caribbean, absolutely. There are at least three stop signs, and several intersections. I'm gonna be an awesome driver (the kids don't agree with me for some reason).

Anyway, I must try to lose this ridiculous mood before I can sleep and get up nice and early again tomorrow for another day of fun in the sun (or rain, wind AND shine, like today).

Sam xx

Caribbean Adventures part III

Yesterday I got towed behind a boat on a disk of inflated... awesomeness. It was fun, although it would be improved with me having no responsibility for the two small passengers accompanying me. Also, we picked up a fresh coconut that had fallen to the ground. We haven't figured out how to open it yet though.

Today, so far, I have burnt the inside of my mouth by eating too much pineapple. It hurts. Even tea is a bit painful, and I'm sure you all know how much that makes me happy. Yoghurt is a soothing balm, but there is only so much Activia one person can eat (and my tolerance for such a foul abomination is pretty low).

Tomorrow? Possibly jet-skiing. Or water skiing, they're definitely on the cards.

Caribbean Adventures part II

The Good:

The Bad:

And the Ugly:

Of the Caribbean wildlife anyway. Those mosquitoes are seriously vicious, the bites swell and go really red, and itch for days! Those ones are 4 or 5 days old now! Hopefully I don't scar!

This is just proof of me on a tropical island. Of course it could be a film set I suppose, but that would be a whole other adventure to tell you about! No, this is the beach at the resort, immaculate of course. Windy that day too, but sunny at least .


And lastly the view from the villa. It really is lovely especially first thing in the morning while it is still cool and covered in soft light and a bit of mist. I love having a view again!

That is all I've managed for pictures for now folks, but when I get a chance, I am so going after more of the wildlife with a camera. I want one with monkeys that aren't running away! They aren't always running away, just when they see a camera. And the crabs. I want a picture of those crabs. They're so cool!

Caribbean Adventures part I

A 10 minute taxi ride, 30 minute train ride, 3 minute shuttle-train ride, 10 hour aeroplane ride, 15 minute taxi ride, 40 minute boat ride, 10 minute golf-cart ride. This is the travel required to reach an exceptionally awesome house on an island in the Caribbean.

I honestly can't say what my favourite thing is, the climate, the wild monkeys (!!!!!), the jacuzzi, table-service while you lie on the beach, the pretty shells all over the beach. Oh and the crabs, the crabs are pretty neat (I'm totally gonna get a picture of those crabs)... Probably the wild monkeys. I do like monkeys, and seeing them running free is the best way to see monkeys. Yay monkeys!!! The fact that you have to go on a boat to get here is pretty spiffy too, I like remote. Although the whole American-style resort kinda diverts from that illusion.

So, as you have probably gathered, I have arrived well and good. Tired, and slightly jet-lagged, although not too bad, just a bit muddled. And I am liking this version of my new job, it's good. Not that I didn't like it in London, but really, being here is going to vastly improve pretty much any job, and nannying is vastly open to environmental influences. The much more relaxed routine is good too, I feel like more of a fun nanny, less of a grinch hurrying the kids from one activity to the next. And hopefully tomorrow I will be a bit less tired. I really appreciated getting to sleep on the plane, I had a lot of sleep to catch up on at that point, and I sure needed it later! Oh and then the kids woke up at 5am, because in London, that would be super-late for them, being like 10am there or something. *yawn* either way, 5am is still 5am so far as I'm concerned.

I had so many thoughts going through my head today about this place, and everything I want to tell everyone, that I can't remember any of it. Again, Monkeys.

At times it reminds me of home. Particularly when I'm sitting on a beach playing with kids in the sand. Some things don't change :-) I love how green it is too, and the sand isn't as white as the internet would have you believe. Hills clearly the product of volcanoes and earthquakes rise out of the sea, hazy blue-green and shrouded in clouds. If you don't look at the details (like wild monkeys!!!) it even looks a fair bit like home. Oh and it comes with the "Live-at-the-beach" life of my childhood, which is really just a short-cut to winning my heart.

In short, life is good; adventure is fantastic!

A new job, a new adventure

I appear to have finally succeeded in finding a job that suits me- back to nannying, and an awesome job at that! I'm based in South Kensington, i.e. a super-posh part of London, close to all the best museums (seriously, I share a tube stop with the Science Museum, Natural History Museum and the V&A), close to Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, etc. etc. Generally speaking, the location couldn't be better. Better still is that the kids are pretty good, I have some new challenges, but within my capabilities I think, and I get on with all of them well. But, better *still* is the travel :-D Apparently they travel pretty much every school holidays (Not sure about mid-terms, but that's still at least three trips a year), and at the end of this week, you guessed it, school holidays! Awesome timing to start a job! It seems I shall be spending Christmas in the Caribbean- watch me pretend to be a pirate, just you wait, I'm gonna be an awesome pirate. Especially as I have small kids to dress up with!!! My inner child was revealed for all to see the other day when I realised I was dancing to Abba under disco lights and a bubble machine... and enjoying myself!!! Hahaha six year olds have the best birthday parties (you should have seen that magician!), I think I'm gonna have a 2+5=7 years old party next year. Is that a good enough reason to hire Mr Lolly to come and do my birthday party? He was awesome. AND he gave out lollipops at the end.

Ahem. I swear I will update you on my French holiday at some point. Probably while I'm in the Caribbean. I mean, I don't have the excuse that I'm busy looking for work any more, or that I've already spent all day starting at my laptop. Although I do have the excuse that I 'work' 24hrs per day for five days a week. But hopefully I will adjust to that eventually.

On that note, it is time to go sort out my suitcase for being in warmer places. It's full of woolly jumpers and other things to be replaced by bathing suits and shorts. Yay it's gonna be summer again already! I totally love this job (just wait till I'm dizzy with heatstroke and trying to put sunscreen on crying, screaming children and make me say that again).