OK so it’s been a while since I wrote anything, which doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing anything just that I couldn’t be bothered thinking back to write about what I have done and then more stuff happens and the task seems too mammoth to even start! So anyway I’ll try and keep it manageable and see what happens!

So since starting nannying I’ve had a good few weekends of fun, out with people from Jen’s work after being snuck in for the office pub quiz in the absolutely amazing building she works in (not usually allowed anyone other than staff as there is lots of free booze but one of the partners was in Jen’s quiz team and said I could come and join them yaay!) Quite daunting a room full of very gorgeous lawyer types (seriously – beauty must be in the job description!) but they were all hammered so it didn’t take me long to catch up! The lovely David and Becky took me along to a house party and then on out one night, after starting at around 4pm there was still cocktails to be drunk at 5am (Musket Room is great for that!) admittedly I had nipped off for a sly disco nap at the party! Also had a wee night out with Netty, the kids mum so I suppose she’s my boss! I was told I was doing lots of booty dancing and definitely had fun but after lots of wine with everybody in the house before going out and no dinner am afraid I’ll just have to take their word for it! Dinner at the Drake (the place with 2 for 1 meals and live jazz singer, with amazing voice) is a very regular Sunday night thing and usually quite a few people are up for it, last Sunday we had to book a table for 15, the downside being it’s impossible to catch up with everyone!

During the week there’s various things going on, Netty’s house is a lively one and there’s often people popping in or coming round for dinner. Regularly there’s up to 6 of us under blankets on the couch watching Desperate Housewives or Grey’s Anatomy . I feel like I eat out a lot too, there’s lots of great wee café’s nearby so I’ve had to sample a few on my afternoon’s off or at the weekend.

It’s so lovely to live near a sibling again – the novelty of having Jen pop in on her way to teach salsa to borrow a T Shirt or to phone on a random midweek evening saying she’s about to pass the house and do I fancy nipping out for a glass of wine and a wee salsa dance is not wearing off! However at the moment she’s at home for 3 weeks and I am missing her a lot!! Though thanks to her I have lots of lovely people to play with and I’ve also met a few myself either randomly or through friends.

Also my friend Derek from home introduced me to his friend Lynne before I left. Lynne and her friend VJ planned on coming to Auckland for 3 months and then travel around New Zealand for another 3 months. They arrived on 7th June, I picked them and a couple they’d met on the plane, up from town and took them back to the house. Sarah and James joined us for lunch, luckily I had the afternoon off as it was a boozy one, followed by a boozy evening – been a few of them since the girls arrived! Sarah was away for work and so the girls stayed in her apartment for a week, which was great as I got company during the day and they really enjoyed their stay! They’ve just moved into a fab house in Kingsland, not too far from Ponsonby where I am and are sorted for work for the moment.

There’s a few more things to be updated on, like the fact I have a car now (woohoo!) and I’ve done a few trips out of Auckland (I added some of the photos already), oh and also had job interviews for Speech Therapy work, and there’s probably some more stuff but that’ll all have to wait as I need to go and get the boys from school, there’s an extra one staying tonight for a sleepover – oh joy! I’m also having people round for dinner tonight, possibly not the best night to have chosen as no doubt they’ll not be wanting to go to sleep at all! At leas

OK, I’m ready to try again. So I’ve made it through a week as a nanny, yaay me! After recovering from my birthday party and going through the 300 odd photos taken over the course of the day before, I packed up my things and Jen drove me up to Netty’s to move in. The kids were in PJs and watching The Princess Bride DVD (how weird – I hadn’t even heard of it till I watched it the week before!) with their mum, Netty and aunty Sarah who stays in the apartment above the garage and is maybe a year or two younger than me. We chatted for a while before Jen and I headed back out to meet a group of people for dinner at the Drake, a bar that does 2 for 1 meals and live jazz music on a Sunday. Jen was suitably impressed with the house and family and I still couldn’t believe my luck!

My routine with the kids is that I’m up for breakfast with everyone really just as back up to keep an eye on things, as Netty likes to do the morning routine including making the kids packed lunches. Then Netty drives Jacob to school or I walk him, and I have Theo for the morning till his nap at 11am and then off to Ponsy Kids (yes, that really is the name of the playgroup!) from 12.30pm till 4pm, which is pretty much directly across the road from the house! I either head to Jacob’s school (about 20min walk) to pick him up at 3pm or another dad, or his gran pick him up so I always have a couple of hours free in the afternoon. I’m not really expected to do much housework at all which is great but I keep the place clean and tidy. Last week was Netty’s first week back at work so she got away early every day and I didn’t even have to do dinner but this week is normal working hours so I get the kids their dinner. The kids are great and everyone is so lovely - this really doesn’t feel like work!

Last Monday, my first day, I took Theo to the park in the morning. He was surprisingly fine with being left with me considering we’d only met briefly twice other than just having breakfast together! In the afternoon I took a wander around to see what there is in the area – there are loads of cool wee shops and cafes just on the main street. Then Sarah came home from work and we picked up the kids and went out to Takapuna beach for a while. Tuesday night I went to a big pub quiz with Jen and a few friends, which was fun but we didn’t even come close to winning. Wednesday night there was a fish and chip fundraiser thing at the community centre for the playgroup and Netty’s friend and her son came over to the house first so we could all go to that. We turned up with pizza and wine but were an hour early (oops, ah well, it was only across the road) so we headed back and ate and drank on the deck at Netty’s which was lovely till I got loads of mosquito bites and we had to move inside! In the end we only went to the centre for about half an hour!

Thursday another mum and her two kids were round for dinner, which was lovely and some of the bottles won at the raffle the night before were consumed before another friend came over we settled down to an exciting episode of Grey’s Anatomy! Friday mornings at the library are story time so I took Theo along to that and there were loads of wee kids there enjoying the stories and songs. Jacob and Theo’s dad take them every weekend and this Friday he was picking them both up so I was free after Theo went to playgroup – hurray! That’s when I went round to Jen’s to wait for the waste disposal fixer man and wrote my blog that disappeared so now (Wednesday) I am finally up to date with last weeks first week as a nanny blog and I’ll stop there as this is pretty huge!!

Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrghhhhhhhh, grrrr, boohoo! Just spent ages writing all about my first week as a nanny and was totally up to date but as I hit save blog it told me to log in and then it was gone! It must log you out automatically after a certain amount of time if you don't do anything but type for too long - others be warned!

Am at my sister's as was being helpful and waiting for the guy to come and fix the waste disposal that was done by about 1.30pm so have just been updating this since then. Can't bring myself to write all that again so it'll just have to wait! It's Friday yaay! And I've just been paid so am off to shop (their latenight shopping is a Friday instead of Thursday) and then meet Jen for drinks - no doubt I'll have no pay left by 10pm, ah well!!