Doom

Last night L and I went to the cinema. As there was only Harry Potter and a bunch of other rubbish, we decided to watch the Doom movie.
It was... well - like the game, actually. There was a very basic plot, not too much deep-thinking required. There was plenty of blood, gore, killing and swearing.
There was a moment of aboslute solemnity when The Rock's character found the B.F.G.
If you like Doom the game, and want a short movie which is not demanding (and slighlty amusing in places) then it's alright. The first-person section when the hero John Grimm played by Karl Urban becomes the hero. (I won't tell you why, it ruins the only plot there is)
Amusing, but not taxing.

On My Birthday...

further to the discussion in the pub:
People born on my birthday

• 1869 Henri Matisse (artist)
• 1937 Anthony Hopkins (actor)
• 1943 Ben Kingsley (actor)
• 1943 John Denver (singer)
• 1950 John Candy (actor)
• 1959 Val Kilmer (actor)

Holida-ay!

Yes, at last, I have some time off work to do nothing!
Nothing?
Yes, Nothing.
Well, almost nothing.
I will invariably tidy up a bit, do some painting (as in oil-on-canvas, not Dulux-on-wall) and get myself into town for posting of Christmas Cards to the USA.
I also have to check out packaging for an item which L is selling on E-Bay for a surprising profit.
And check out stuff to buy for some people for Christmas.
And get Mum a birthday card.
Okay, so nothing it isn't, but not work!
Now all I have to so is switch off from all the stuff I have been doing at work, and keep my fingers crossed that the re-emergence of my cold goes away when I have a lie-in.

Disco is too old

So, the Xmas party last night was good. I had a good time for the most part, the food was nice, and good company. Did some dancing, but was dissapointed with the music (again)
Huge were fab, and entertaining!
However, regarding the disco, there was only one girls aloud song played. There were no recent cheesy songs other than that, and yet he played Kaiser Cheifs. Okay, while I like that, it's not disco. Ho hum. No Sugababes, no busted / mcfly / other clones, no Britney, Kylie, Madonna (despite her big no.1 at the mo.) Poor.

I wanna go dancing...

Yes, the tan looks okay. I'm impressed with it as I've only ever previously managed a slightly orangey slightly streaky tan (at best)

I've also got a new hair colour now, Morello Cherry (which I'm informed isn't a colour) in fact, like Davina, but not.

The dress is ready, the shoes are ready, the handbag is available, the taxi is booked, I have my tickets (and L's, plus two more for friends we're collecting in our taxi)
Tomorrow I get my hair cut, do my nails (hands and feet, not faking that this time), drink my bottle of slightly sparkling Italian Pinot Grigio. (oh, Okay, I'll save some for L)

I'm looking forward to the dancing much more than the meal. I'm sure I've ordered something lovely...

Tan-fastic

Indeed, for tonight I endeavour to be less milk-coloured and more the colour of someone with a second home in the Bahamas. Or St. Tropez.

I shall undress, slather exfoliant (thats scrubby-gel for you men) all over me, wipe it all off, slather moisturisor all over my drier bits (like knees and elbows), then (using latex gloves) slather funny brown tanning lotion all over me. Then, tomorrow morning I shower it off and should be bronzed and beautiful. Hopefully. And not streaky. Although I might have time to get it fixed if I do screw it up. Before the ball. On Friday. Two nights away. [minor levels of panic setting in]
However, I am using the critically acclaimed, celebrity endorsed, St. Tropez.
I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
Then tomorrow I'm changing my hair colour too...

...

At least I'll be wearing my real nails.

Is it wrong to want to look pretty?

Dresses and working out

Yes, the two big themes of my life at the moment (pathetic I know) are working-out and dresses for the Christmas parties in December.
I've been surprised with myself about working out, actually. I don't like excercise (many will add their agreement to that). The main thing I dislike about excercising is that people see me all red and sweaty and out of breath. It's not a good look. And sadly I am still young enough to be bothered how I look. So, I bought the treadmill and L got me the Abs thingy and actually, I've been almost enjoying using them! The Abs thingy is fab! It's silly but fun, and it might be working. However, despite all this, my weight has not changed, and neither has my waist size. This is depressing.
Dresses, on the other hand, are terribly hard to find this year. The big problem is that I don't like to re-wear dresses. And it HAS to be a dress. I probably will have to re-wear dresses though, as my attempt at replicating a Girls Aloud dress was a miserable failure.
Darnit.

Cold

Miserable weather. Warm house :)

Excercise

So, I bought myself a treadmill on Thursday, from the work-intranet thing.

On Thursday, I had a (quick and tiring) go on the treadmill, and L and I discussed various methods I could use to motivate myself and ways I could use the treadmill and our other equipment. We drew up a schedule for me, which I almost stuck to today! This morning I did 5 minutes less fast-paced-walking than I was meant to, but I did do two extra weight bearing excercises, so I think that's okay.
Girls Aloud were my motivational music of choice, and I also have four pictures of me when I liked (and still like) the way I look(ed). The idea behind the pictures is that I can see my goal, and also I can see that it's attainable - because I used to be there.
We'll see how it goes, but I'm feeling both good and slightly sore around my midriff.

Leon has given me one of my Christmas gifts early: an "Instant Abs" machine! I don't know if we're going to have room for it in our second bedroom, so we'll have to move some stuff around. But yey! I might even be able to wear a nice dress again (although I only have a month, so that might be pushing it) but hopefully, if I keep it up, I'll have a bikini body for when we go away next year! (No, we haven't booked it yet. We haven't even saved any money up for it yet)

Feeling Soppy

It's L and my anniversary on Friday

We were planning on going on a "mini-cruise" to Amsterdam, but it was fully booked. Instead of this, we have planned a luxurious break in Harrogate. Ok, so it's not as glamorous as going abroad, but it does have advantages, like not sleeping on a boat.
We plan to go to the Original Betty's Tea-Rooms and also to the Turkish Bath. I am very excited about the Turkish Bath! The only downside of that is that swimwear is required (and don't think I'd rather be naked - honestly, I'd rather wear a moo-moo) and so I'll be looking a state! Ah, maybe I can get away with wearing one of my new bikinis that I didn't get to wear in the freezingness that was the Canaries.
We also plan to visit some museums and have a generally relaxing few days (including a day off work)
And I'm getting my hair cut on Thursday too.

Who would believe it, 4 years?

Cool, Actually

So, it turns out that the stuff L ordered from screwfix is fairly cool. I'll let him off.

I'm still thinking about i-pod purchase possibility. I do like the mini (you all know what colour...) and it comes in 4 and 6 Gb sizes. Tempting. Still, it would set me back in my "getting out of my overdraft" plan quite significantly.

Still waiting for my catalogue too...
Ho hum. Been looking at holidays. Got to get something booked PDQ or we'll have to go last minute again. That's okay, except that you don't have a clue what's happening. That said, that could be the case on a standard holiday too.

How on earth do I decide what to get L for Xmas? (yes, thinking about it already because I'll have to spread the spend)

Think it's best if I just go to bed now.

Other People's Junk Mail

Great! Another catalogue!
Actually, it does look good, so I've ordered the full version of it. Yay!
Although, it has made me consider buying an i-pod mini again. However, since L just spent a damned fortune on tools from screwfix (thanks to my Dad) I shouldn't splash out just yet. Or at this rate for quite a while.
Oh well, I know I shouldn't grumble. Probably will continue to grumble though.

Challenges

So, the challenges I set for myslef last February (I think) are not completed by any means. Here's a brief update:

1. Buy a house [done - only 25 years until we own it]
   Well, that one I knew I'd do - L and I have been planning to buy a bouse for a while, and it went amazingly fast when we got down to it. We've even got hold of the landlord from the places we rented to get our deposit back, most of which will be winging its way to paying for our new washer and fridge.
2. Go on a weekend city break [0/1]
   Yeah, you'd think that would be easier huh? Although, we're currently considering doing a mini-cruise to Amsterdam. Although you only get one day in Amsterdam, it counts as a weekend break since you spend two nights on the boat (ie away from home) Now all we have to do is book the time off work and then make sure we can afford it. We're planning on going for our anniversary in October.
3. Buy cushions [0/4]
   Another one which should be simple and isn't. I don't want to buy cushions with covers as I'd like to make my own covers. This is what is taking the time...
4. Lose weight [0 lb lost - scales battery flat!]
   Okay, strictly speaking I don't know if I've acheived this or not. I will endeavour to go out and buy a battery for the scales so that I can prove whether I am still the same weight or not.
5. Take up and continue doing weights OR jogging [jogged once]
   The trouble is: I feel like such a muppet running around with my face pinker than my jogging bottoms (which are pink) looking like I'm about to die. I guess it's my own fault for getting to this point of unfitness.
6. Create and frame a good A3 pastel picture [created]
   Yeah, I have to get around to buying a frame for this, and probably aught to fix the picture too.
7. Hang UoW T-Shirt somewhere [framed]
   This one is waiting on Leon putting some picture hooks up.
8. Make a dress [1/1 (Indian Fancy Dress)]
   Woo! A finished one!
9. Make one of those pretty tops [0.5/1 (disaster, in bin)]
   Yeah, this is likely to remain at 0.5 as the style of top I mean is no longer that trendy, and it's a bit cold for them now anyway.
10. Go for 24 consecutive hours without Tea [10/24 during move]
    This one is definitely not going to happen

Maybe next year I'll think a little harder about these aims before I commit to them, and pick at least 5 of the 10 to be ones I will achieve!

13 Days

So, it's 13 days since we stopped drinking.
Actually, it's only been noticeable to me a couple of times, which is good. I was apprehensive about meeting L's workmates without a large white wine to chill me out, but I was fine. Yesterday when work was difficult and annoying I really facnied a glass of wine. However I stuck to the Appletize.
I feel rubbish this morning, but I know that this is because I have a cold and nothing else.

Landlords become amazingly elusive when you move out! We've been trying to get hold of out landlord for quite some time and he doesn't call us back. I dislike the idea of trying to take him to court for my deposit, but I will have to do so if he doesn't sort himself out soon. It's annoying.

The delights of Sushi

I am excited about a new book I bought.
It's about Sushi. Not only does it explain why Sushi exists, what you need to make it and how to make it, it also explains how to eat it! Fa-antastic!
So, I may even get around to making some, although I expect that I will first try on a Saturday. I also need to buy a bamboo mat, and possibly some chopsticks.

I'm also mildly annoyed - I downloaded some software to my phone to be able to shop from my modlie (as if I need an excuse...) and it doesn't work. Grr.
And I have only bananas and a kiwi to make smoothie with tomorrow. Not as exciting as on previous mornings. I should buy some more soft fruit.

I wonder if there's any further tasty and interesting food that's good for me that I could try - I'm enjoying most of it so far!

Stopping Drinking Is OK

It's a funny thing, stopping drinking. Alcohol, I mean. When you give up smoking, everyone says: "Excellent, well done! Dirty habit."
When you tell (most) people that you have given up alcohol, they say "WHY?" SO it seems that it is acceptable to:

• Get drunk and make a tit of yourself in public
• Get drunk and be abusive of people
• Get drunk and fall over

However, should you wish to stop getting drunk, whatever your reasons may be, then you are required to give an in-depth explanation of you exact reasons to want to stop pickling yourself from the inside out, and making yourself miserable from being hungover, saying things you don't mean and regretting them, or just knowing you made an absolute ass of yourself.
Mr Black I fully understand your sentiment now. My appologies if I've ever been like that to you.
As for the rest of you: I don't like what I am like when I am drunk. There, you happy?? I have to stop now to prove that I can, to prove that I can still enjoy myself, and like myself. To prove that I can stop.
Everyone I know seems to think that it is some kind of amazing sacrifice I am making, but I would rather sacrifice a slow drug than the things which I risk.

And still, as I headed home tonight after our work party to celebrate the (sort of) sucessful migration of work from one site to another, I felt sad. Normally I would have been talking to myself in my drunk state - and it would have been 2 hours later than I promised L (That's Dom). I would have been commenting to the geese how pretty they are, and I would have probably fallen off my shoes at some point (although I do that when sober too...)
I found that I left thinking about work, and why I work. I spend roughly 7 hours every day doing something which I don't really dislike with some people I get on with and a manager who I've learnt to deal with. What do I do it for, really? Well, I do like my teammates, they're nice and friendly, even if some of them are infuriating.
I remember being truly content with absolutely everything one time. It was during uni. I'd met L, my course was interesting, and challenging, and going well. I felt like me, I was the right size and the right attitude. And the people that knew me knew me because I let them. Everything was rosy. Well, it may not be perfect now, but it is better than it has been for a while. I have one decision to make, although based on the office politics it won't be as simple as it sounds.
And then I arrive on my blog to find ad-posting is rife again. Ra. But sadly, it's a half-hearted Ra. I'm going to bed now.

Officially In

The housewarming on Saturday was good, and we are now officially in the house. Thanks to all who came, it would have been poor had nobody turned up.

I drank too much, and I'm mean when I'm drunk. However, that also marks the end of my drinking... For now. I have officially given up. I'm aiming for December at least before I re-start.

I did get the pretty E530 in blue as shown.

We have a LOT of sausages in the house now.

Waiting is pants

Today I will have been waiting an entire week to upgrade my phone for free rather than for hundreds of pounds(!) - Well, technically it will have been a year-and-a-day. I know which phone I want at least. I'm just waiting for my boyfriend to return with a lock for the door so that I can leave the darned house! Who knows why it takes him so long to walk into town (15 mins) to a shop that sells locks (okay, that might be more tricky) and then back (15 mins). I suppose he could still be having trouble finding the lock, or he could be mucking about doing some other random thing. Or something horrible could have happened, which is really why I'm concerned.

I also dislike waiting for web-pages to load. I'm currently waiting for our broadband to be set up to minimise this waiting.

Oh well.

So, anyway. I currently have the Samsung E800 I'm thinking of upgrading to either the Samsung E530 or Samsung E720 I'm definitely sticking with Samsung. I wish their slide-phones were nicer, but the newer ones are blokey or don't have enough features. I like girly phones, but I also want something with proper features. I'm still a techie (I reckon that should be spelled tekki).

731 days

Or indeed, two years.
Yes, that's the amount of time I have been working for . My first day was exactly two years ago today.
It doesn't really seem so long and yet it also seems to be a long time. I've grown up more than I expected, but probably not as much as I aught to have.
A whole bunch of things have not changed about me and my life though. I still have a fab boyfriend! Also, my taste in music is just as bad as always. I even have almost the same hair as I did those two years ago. OK, so now I own a house, and a fridge, and I'm not so skinny and my hair is an almost sensible colour (for now...)
Do people change, really though? Or do the people around them just come to understand them, and perhaps to accept their oddities.

That also means that it is just over two years (about two years and three months) since I finished university and set foot into the world. Or, my parents house. It took three whole months to find myself a job. I actually had two jobs lined up, but I liked York as a city, and didn't fancy Tunbridge Wells. How different things might have been.
There are a few things I miss about uni, mostly the underlying feeling that you can do anything. I also miss being able to go clubbing at Area 51 which was our 'local' Union venue. It was particularly local for me in my third year as I lived about two minutes walk from there - on campus! I enjoyed the school nights and retro nights and cheese night. All of it was fun, and we all just went to have fun. There was no worry about anything (except for things like worrying who the random bloke so-and-so went off with was...)
That said, I wouldn't go back now. Well, visit maybe, but not to stay. 3 years of that was probably as much as my health would stand!!

Phoney

So, I was going to get my shiny new phone today. Except that it turned out that my contract actually ends at the end of the week. Poo.

Still, that gives me a whole week to change my mind over what I want.

House!

At last!
We have moved in to our new house!
Many thanks to those who helped, including my parents and two of our friends.
I was going to post some photos of our lovely new house, but the scanner broke and there aren't any online. Poo.
Anyway, the move. We got up at about 7:30 and I wished that I had eaten less curry the night before. I got some breakfast and then we went about packing up the remainder of the things in the house (mostly) My parents arrived in a HUGE blue van from Rhino Car & Van Hire, Brigg Rd Scampton, Lincoln, LN1 2SY - Tel. 01522 537633 (ok, they were fab, so I've plugged their services) Anyway, the van was huge, as I said. We still didn't fit everything in it. Our friends took some stuff (and also my mum) in their car. We then returned for load two. It took until about 3pm to get the last load in the van. All the stuff was inside by about 6pm.
It's on the way to being packed away too. (okay, ish)
We then spent Sunday at Currys, Comet, etc. We finally bought a fridge/freezer and washer/dryer from Powerhouse, and hopefully they will be arriving on Saturday. We have to pay the man who brings them £20 for his time as we wanted delivery on the Saturday and not on Wednesday which is much less convenient.
Thankfully, then my parents went home. Therefore they stopped 'organising' things for me. I love my parents, don't get me wrong. However, when confronted on Sunday morning with them moving the three piece to "Where it obviously has to go" I knew two things:

1. They were annoying me
2. I'd have to move it around, even if the place they put it was perfect.

I don't know if anyone else has that sort of family...
Anyway, I was really glad of their help, even if they annoyed me quite a bit.
After the departure of the parents, we went to the aforementioned friends house as they had offered to cook us dinner, and as we only have pasta and soup, we accepted. Their feeding us was not only much appreciated, but the food was very nice too!
And now we are here, in a house where I have set up the PC but can't find any underwear. A house where we've had to change the loo seat. A house which we will, in 25 years, own.
In case you can't tell - I'm happy.

Camping

Aha! So, I return from a week's camping in the beautiful Dorset countryside!
I have had a wonderful time while I've been away! The weather was lovely, the company was, well - my parents and Dom. No, the company was great. The sights were interesting and I spent a damn fortune.
I enjoyed the amphitheatre in Dorchester, but I also enjoyed the Wine Shop which was huge! Dom bought some random ale (Hardy Ale I think) which was really strong and brew-in-the-bottle. I was nearly sick after a mere sip! So I stuck to my nasty cider instead (I'll mention the nice cider later)
We also went to Maiden Castle. Maiden Castle is not, in fact, a castle. It's a very large hill fort. The sign proclaimed that it is the largest in Europe, if I remember correctly. There were a lot of sheep. Tame sheep, not wild ones. There were also lots of earth-works (mounds and dips in the top of the hill, for none time-teamers). There were further signs on the hill, but they were all too weathered to be read. It was very windy, but also remarkably sunny. I got rather worried by the very long drop at the side of me and the strong winds trying to blow me down it. I did enjoy the walk more than I usually enjoy walks though. I also got rather sunbunrt. Bother.
On a different day of the week we went to Monkey World. It was Fantastic! I particularly liked the Orangutans. I even bought a toy baby orangutan to be friends with my other cuddly toys. It was an thoroughly enjoyable day and well worth the (small) entry fee - if you're ever in the area, take a day there. Or half a day, as we did. However, this isn't a review of the park...
We also went to the Cider Museum That day. That was also cool. They had a whole bunch of cider presses there, they even use some of them still. They also had a metal bath for making Blue Vinney cheese, but apparantly they can't do that now as it's Lead. They still make Blue Vinney cheese there though, so I bought some of that, and we also bought 5 litres of their cider. It was goood. We drank cider on most of the rest of the evenings there, and we also bought more on the way home!
Dom was particularly excited by getting fish and chips from the van on site on Wednesday night. We all had fish and chips and it was very good. The man in the van cooked the fish to order (well, his wife did) and then he tried to be funny while we waited. He wasn't that funny, I had to feed him the line about going to Monkey World so that he could retort with "And they let you out?" hoho.
Thursday while Dom and my Dad went to see Tanks in Action! at the Tank Museum, Mum and I got on the train to Poole. This was exciting, as Mum doesn't often travel on trains. Poole was nice enough, but after a morning of shopping (I bought a top in New Look, some moisturiser in Body Shop and some nail care off a random woman) and lunch at the local Wetherspoons (how exciting?!) We went on a boat trip. It turned out that the boat wasn't a "tour" as we thought, but just the ferry to Brownsea Island. Well, we decided, we're there, we might as well look around. We did look for the red squirrels which they claim live on the island, but we didn't see any. We did see some baby Peacocks which led me to ask: "What do you call a baby peacock?" - No it's not a joke. Any ideas? We thought maybe Pea-baby or Pea-chick. Then my Mum got all silly and started calling them Chick-peas. I did take a photo of them with my phone, but it was rubbish. I also stroked a small duck.
On Friday, our last day, we went back into Dorchester to visit some museums, but first we went to see the Rude Man of Cerne Abbas. He's a big carving in the landscape with a larger than average club. I bought a mug from Cerne Abbas (the town) and we looked round the old Abbey there. We also ate lunch in a pub which was being re-thatched. Then we shipped off to Dorchester to the war museum there. It was surprisingly interesting. They even had a pack of "Iraq most wanted" playing cards there!
So, yes - a fab week. And it didn't rain on us at all.

recycling

Dom and I have been packing.
We are doing so in the hope that we will eventually move house and be able to unpack most of the stuff.
However, the new house is smaller than the current one, and also has less rooms which is a bit of a bummer for me. Mainly because I have a lot of stuff No, it's not all crap, much of it is useful. Also, some of it is clothes, which was what we were packing. So, We've filled three BIG suitcases of clothes. We also donated FOUR bin bags full of clothes to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance people.
And feeling good.
And trying to sell some of the stuff myself.

Oh, and we've signed. We're just waiting for exchange.

Random Not-Rant

Well,
Everything seems fairly odd at the moment.
The house thing is going okay, our Home-buyers' Report turned up today. It was actually quite funny to read, as it says some funny things. I'm not going into detail though as it's confidential.

So, yes. The people I know from the big Smoke are all fine, and also fine since the new round of bombings were rubbish. I mean, what kind of suicide bomber doesn't even blom him/herself up!?! RUBBISH!
NB: I am not condoning suicide bombing, just being VERY amused at how rubbish they were at it.

I'm not allowing anyone to know about my career plans, so then I don't have to send out unhappy emails about how I'm not wanted. :)
Funny - I thought this was going to be a big rant. It's not really is it. I guess Kalms (TM) work. I should think about getting dinner ready, Dom is meant to be on his way home. From out with people from work who failed to tell me they were going anywhere before I left work, even though I walked past one of them on the way (Iasonas).
O well. I can't really afford to be out at any rate, and I have now managed to write a letter to cancel our home insurance which we don't want so that we can set up some that we do want. It's all so complicated.

OH! And the wedding at the weekend was great!

-

There is nothing I can say about Thursday's events which hasn't already been said. I'm glad that everyone I have heard from is okay, but there are some I'm still waiting on. I'm sure that they're just really busy though.

On the other hand, there is a lot I could say about so called protestors destroying bits of cities and cars and the like for no real reason and achieving nothing. But somehow a bunch of blokes in a room with a whole bunch more people outside complaining about it doesn't seem so important.

When will people learn? In both the above cases.

Something good, something bad.

So, things are looking both up and down at the moment. This may seem to be wrong, but I assure you all that it is not.

We've got an offer on a house, and it looks like we'll actually get said house (looking up)

I didn't get the job I went for (looking down, or at least, less up)

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The Good
Last night was Jax's Cowboy and Indian themed party. Drinking was done, some nice cocktails were made and large amounts of pizza were ordered. There was also some chicken but some be-atch ate it all before I got any.

The Bad
Lint got very drunk, as one might expect. So did I actually. At least Lint knows that annoying and controversial aren't always bad characteristics. My appologies if you didn't realise that mate. You don't always annoy me. Oly when you're falling over and making people shout and such. (And when you don't eat eggs, although I hear it wasn't your fault that your non-egg likingness wasn't reported to the kitchen)

The Ugly Jax succeeded in her kiss a girl challenge 3x over. I'm not saying that Jax is ugly, or that kissing Jax is either ugly or bad. Or that the others involved are ugly.
Dammit. This is why I don't go around kissing girls. But anyway, it's under the "ugly" heading because otherwise I'd insult someone else...

Moving on from the film theme, this JB fellow seems okay. I'm not going to pass further comment, but he helped supervise Lint and also was good humoured about all incidents. And he was nice about the breakfast when I'm sure it was probably:

1. Cold
2. Not what he (or any other participant) asked for
3. Not served with much smiling or cheer
4. Served at lunchtime

Still, it could be worse...

Blog from a non-single

Having just read This Post (well, some of it) I find myself needing to defend my (and others') relationship-status.
It's quite odd, really, that we (as non-singles) do spend so much time complaining about things that we would never change even if we could. That, my friends, is the difference between the cases. I have been known (no really) to complain about some of Dom's habits, but frankly I love all of them as much as they annoy me! Most of the time I spend hoping that he finds my annoying habits (of which I know there are many) as endearing. The best remedy for complaining non-singles is this: If they complain that MrX always leaves the loo-seat up, ask them this: Would you rather that he left the loo-seat up, or that he just left?
When I was single, I spent much of my time either drunk (no change there) or complaining that I was single. Until one (rare) sober moment when a friend and I sat down and we asked ourselves, why are we being miserable? We're 18 years old, the last thing we need is long term commitment! About four weeks later, I met my long-term-commitment. Maybe it was because I stopped looking. Maybe it was because I looked like lots of fun, because I wasn't just man-hunting. Maybe it was because it was meant to be. Who knows. So I figure, make the most of what you have.
There's no real point in feeling something and hiding it. Unless it would really hurt someone. Something remaining hidden always implies that it is wrong in some way, as though it should be hidden like a sordid secret. I've always been a WYSIWYG kind of girl anyway, and so people generally know how I feel, and about who.
You have to take the chance sometimes in order to get what you need. Sometimes it backfires and you end up stoned against your will in some house you don't recognise calling your ex because there's nobody else you can talk to. Sometimes it means that you end up sitting in your flat alone waiting for the guy you don't fancy to call because at least he pays you the attention everyone craves. Sometimes it means that you make a fool of yourself because the person you're after isn't single after all, or not batting for the team you thought! Worse though, than all of these situations, is to wonder what would have happened.
To quote the Beach Boys (one of Dom's faves)
God only knows what I'd be without you...

Tum-tee-too

So, yes.
Or not, depending on your point of view.
Stuff happens, and not always the way you expect it to.

PTH X

PTH was good. Check out other people's blogs for a proper recollection of the evening, I don't remember much after the baileys and lime (never again).

Couple of good piccies though. Will maube post them when I can be bothered. Will also post results if we ever hear them...

Slowly slowly

So, not going well on my tasks. Oh well. Everyone who went out of their way to tell me I'm not fat in the last post is appreciated, but ignored. Sorry.

Not fat, just not as thin as I want to be.

Maybe I should get off my fat a$$ and do something about it...

Raaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

There, now I feel better.

Dammit!

Tesco.com just told me I'm fat :(

I do want to lose weight though... but still - raa!

Then they want to charge me money to make me thin! Double raa!!

Houses, Derren and Stuff

This weekend has so far been an interesting one. I had quite a busy day yesterday, including some shopping, an interview at a bank for a mortgage, some more shopping, a very nice lunch, a trip to the pub, seeing Derren Brown and then further pubbing. Pretty good, really.

Shopping was sucessful, I got the black-long-sleeved-t-shirt I needed for my costume, and I am now almost ready to be Captain Magenta. Also bought some nice shorts and a new bikini
Ok, no - I don't really need shorts or a bikini, but they're a nice colour (not pink) and they were also inexpensive.

The mortgage woman was nice, and also quite helpful. We can officially look at houses and know if the bank will buy them for us.

Derren Brown was slightly more predictable than I had hoped, partly from having seen some of his (TV) shows before. I had spotted many of the "subliminal" messages, which is odd, since they're meant to be subliminal...

I have now updated my list of aims for the remainder of the year.

Nice to see Badfriend again.

Surprised by the voting profile of the group - I appologise for not giving you all more credit (except for Lint, who I should have expected to do that)
On a related note, I was surprised to find that I should have voted for a party I didn't, although it wouldn't have actually changed the result here.

So I'm going to go eat before I starve to death (exaggeration)

Tsuki x

speaking of bandwagons...

I've hopped on the "things I want to do" bandwagon. There are other things I'm thinking of adding, but I'm currently not sure if they're even vaguely acheiveable (like giving up tea for a day, or no chocolate for a week...) So it sits at those that are there.

Stuff

So much has happened since my last blog!

First: promised (when drunk) appology:
I need to appologise to Jaq for not giving her the credit she's due, for expecting the things that annoy me (sorry hun) and forgetting all the great things I like so much. For blaming her for leaving rather than understanding and for thinking selfishly when I shouldn't.

I'm not going to be less vague.

So, apparantly on election night while at the pub I said some amusing things, ranging from "I don't think I'm gay" to discussions about children I don't have. Hmm. Maybe I should drink less, or more and more often, to prevent these occurences.

Work is still as work is, I doubt that it will improve in the near future, and I'm in a position at the moment where I don't want to do anything about it. I thought that seeing other people go off and sort their lives out might inspire me, but not really.

Going to look into the scary world of Mortgages at the weekend. Scary in many ways, not least in the size of a commitment for me and Dom.

Scotland - yes, that was cool. Should have mentioned it already but had stuff to do. Wicked weekend, thank you muchly Chip. I particularly enjoyed (in no order):

• walking without Bert (no offense)
• roast dinner
• being rubbish at golf
• sitting around
• being rubbish at lighting fires, but making lots of smoke and using lots of matches in the process!
• sausages for breakfast
• jacuzzi bath!!!
• Being in a beautiful location
• Everything not going tits-up and therefore not having anything to moan about

So, coming up - PTH-X Our team is Captain Scarlet themed, and the costumes are almost ready! I'm really looking forward to that too, I'm being Captain Magenta! Woo!

Well, signing off now,
Tsuki x.

Aheadness Plannedness

In over one month's time (26 May) the slightly-more-than-bi-annual Actuarial Pub Treasure Hunt will be occurring.
Last time, the team I was on, Bad Data did rather well and won, but as we've organised the PTH before, the runners up got the (dubious) honour. They are currently calling themselves Charlie's Angels, as the theme this time is Cult TV. This has led to several discussions about what cult TV we should dress up as, because that's over 90% of the fun.
We have decided, but I'm not telling you. Not yet at least.

I'm back!

Yes, I've returned to Blog after 2 months and a day.

Ok, excuses first:

• It's not my fault, I've been stuck in Norwich.
• It's not my fault, the PC was dead.
• It's not my fault, my parents visited - with my sister.
• It's not my fault, I've been doing fun real-world stuff

Ok, now that's over with...

So, what have I been up to?
Well, I've not been dieting (or at least not sucessfully) due to the whole food-being-paid-for when you're away for work. I hate saying "Away on business" because it makes it sound so overimportant!
I've mostly been grumbling lots about doing four people's work (that's mine and three others - ooh maths). I have done some cool things since my last post, I'm sure I have!

I've become addicted to Desperate Housewives and not just because of the pretty men (and women) in the series. I'm enjoying it. This is rare for me and TV, usually the only TV I like is factual or Sci-fi. This show is neither, yet I like it. Sadly, all the girls in it are uber-thin making me feel even less adequate than ever, but despite that I'm trying to smile.
Nah, screw that - I am smiling. Ok, my ar$e is bigger than Teri Hatcher's - big deal - I have much nicer breasts and don't look like I should spend a week in a fast-food chain eating!

The main thing that worries me, going back to the Norwich thing, is how I'm reacting to the stress of a badly organised project. I drink much more than I should, and even considered cigarettes for the briefest time. Of course once I'd had the thought, it plagued me all week. ciggy-ciggy-ciggy-ciggy. I have extinguished the desire now ('scuse the pun) and am endeavouring to not comfort eat as therapy too. And I've not bought any new clothes since just about pay-day last month (woo) although with my bonus...
Yes, bonus time came around again. I was reasonably happy with my bonus (my payrise doesn't deserve a mention really) and I used it to pay of the majority of my credit card. The only thing I did buy for myself was some new perfume - Curious by Britney
Apparantly Britney didn't know she was preggers, until she fainted in Miami or something. Duh. Still, I don't admire her (or want to be like her and have a baby) I just like her music. If people can say that about Jacko then I can say it about Britney!
Umm...

Having read The Black's Blog about his geekosphere, I would add that I think my geekosphere is much less geeky than his. I only have photos and two pod-racers made of lego (which aren't mine), about 15 plastic cups (with gum in the top one now... grim), a VB book and my name-tag. I also have a tag created by T** for me, which implies that I have two desks and Cleggy doesn't have any!

On that note, Adieu - another program I like is starting. Hustle.

Fibbers

So, apparantly there's an Indy Disco at a local venue tonight. And apparantly I'm going.
How odd.

Holidays and Lies

So, I've just got back (Well, got back on Tuesday) from my long awaited, much deserved holiday to Fuerteventura (Spelled it right this time).
Before we left we checked the BBC weather site online, which claimed highs of 18-20 degrees celsius. Lovely.
They LIED to us though. It wasn't hot, it was only sunny for two days of the seven. Still, we did have a great time and will probably bore the heck out of everyone about it.

Arrival Day
This day was cloudy.
We arrived, bought some milk and water and then went to discover Corralejo (pronounced Coral-Echo) town, where we were staying. We ate out and drank sangria, then went to the Dunas Caleta (our hotel) Quiz! We came second. And they didn't find the team name funny.

Day 2 - booking excursions
This was the most expensive day. We booked all of our excursions (three in total). We had tapas for lunch.

Day 3 - Simply Fuerteventura
This was a tour. It was freezing and I was wearing a skirt and so was cold. We saw some brilliant things, including goats. We also ate well and bought some cheese - more on that later.

Day 4 - Oasis Park
It should be noted that I'm not afraid of many animals. One of these would have been camels. However I have faced my fear and ridden a camel to the top of a mountain. I was terrified the whole time, but I did it. Yey me.
We also saw a huge variety of plants and animals at the Oasis Park, including cycling parrots and dancin sealions.

Day 5 - Waterpark
Today was SUNNY and we went to the waterpark. the day was not as sucessful as I had hoped. We had a crash landing on one of the water chutes and I hit my head. I then spent the rest of the day on the sunbeds but failed to get a tan. How annoyed am I?

Day 6 - Lanzarote Discovery
This was very exciting. We sailed by ferry to Lanzarote and saw a real live volcano (Timinfaya) which is hot and everything. It was wicked! We also drove around the national park there, which is barren and beautiful. Finally we went into a lava tube (a weird hollow thing where lava on top sets but not the underneath stuff - really amazing) which had been turned into a tourist thing by a guy who I can't remember the name of (bad me). It was beatiful. Dom kept saying it looked like Tracy Island though. The tour was supposed to end at about 7pm but unfortunately the Canarian authorities had closed all of the ports and we couldn't get back to Fuerteventura.
Bugger.
So, Thompson put us up in a fancy hotel which would have been lovely if we'd been prepared. We didn't have clothes, toothbrushes... But we did get free dinner and breakfast. And we got back eventually.

Day 7 - Return from Lanzarote and also Valentines
So we got back and it was a bit sunnier. We went back to a restaurant we had enjoyed before and got great treatment again. La Taberna. We'd recommend it to anyone going to Corralejo.

Day 8 - Going home
This was a mad shopping rush (last minute) and English breakfast day. We got back to our house at about 11:30pm.

Go ahead to My piccies page to see some of our snaps.


Oh yes! The cheese. --CENSORED-- (Thanks badfriend, you're probably right)

Here Bloggy Bloggy Bloggy

It's all gone a bit mental!
May not have chance to blog again until the end of Feb, so take your time reading the mammoth amount of posts I just added!

Love y'all
Sees you after my holidays!
xxx

Reasons Why I Like My Shape

As the diet thing isn’t really going that well, and I’ve been told by three different people that I don’t need to loose weight, I have been trying to look at myself a little differently.
The people in the public eye that I find attractive are generally much slimmer than your average person, for example Alyson Hannigan or Angelina Jolie. Of course, I know that they have dieticians and personal trainers, how on earth could I have the time to be that thin.
What I find attractive in a woman, as a woman, is possibly not the same as what men find attractive in women.
The only person I need to be concerned about is my boyfriend. Unfortunately he agrees with me about Alyson Hannigan.
So – what have I figured out so far? Well, that Alyson Hannigan is attractive but that I can never be that thin.
OK. This train of reasoning, I think, is not really that productive. So I have to look at another method.
It was suggested that I should think of five reasons why someone would find me attractive physically. So, here goes.

1. I have nice boobs I have a nice smile
2. I have big eyes
3. I have pretty good legs
4. I have a pert (if large) bottom

Ok, that was easier than I expected. Maybe that’s not something which will help me. This is the trouble, although I know that I have redeeming physical features, I tend to concentrate much more on the things I dislike about myself. To be honest I would really just like to be firmer on my tummy and sides. I am doing a little dieting – but I do need to be careful. Extreme dieting is not a place I’d like to return to(1)
So, just getting rid of the bit that most women want rid of. Joy. You see, I don’t really mind my fairly large bottom. I don’t worry that my thighs are a bit wobbly. I love that my boobs got bigger when I put on weight. My face shape isn’t quite as nice as it was, but I can use blusher in creative ways!
So, in order to make me feel better about myself, we took a digital photo of me looking rough in mis-matched underwear. I’m slouching and rounding my shoulders. Then, just before the holiday we will take another photo of me. Hopefully in the new one I will look better. The plan is that I will wear heels and one of my new sexy bikinis. I’ll pose better and smile rather than scowl. OK, so I know that some of it is about psychology, and that I may look almost the same as before but I’m posing better. That said, if I look better in the picture then I’ll feel better regardless. (I hope)
Also, I am enjoying my new cardiovascular exercise – skipping! I find it tiring, and it also hurts my joints after a while, as it’s very high impact. We do have camping mats, which we use to skip on as this cushions the landings a little. I managed to do 100 consecutive skips last night.

(1) As a teenager (like most teenagers) I had a minor problem with eating. I didn’t – if there was any way that I could avoid meals I would. However, while at university – thanks partly to a good friend and also to my boyfriend – I discovered that I didn’t have to be starving all of the time. That resulted in the me in the picture top right.

Scorchio!

I’m going on holiday. I’d like to think I deserve it, and that I shouldn’t really be more concerned about paying off my credit card. Still, who gives a monkey’s.(1)
So, yes, holiday. Dom and I are going away for an entire week. First we have to stay over at a hotel near the airport as we are leaving in the morning before we could get there by train. We’ll then be jetting off to the North coast of Fuertaventura, in the Canary Islands. These islands are just off the coast of Africa, although they are technically Spanish islands.
The resort we’re going to is supposed to be ideal for couples and since we’re going the week before half term, I’m anticipating not being bothered by large numbers of small children.(2)
We’re supposed to be approximately 15 minutes away from the new water-park (oo) and only about 5 mins from the Saharan Sand Dunes(3) which sound lush! We’re also really close to the beach, and the pool in the brochure looks great. So, in about a fortnight I’ll be sunbathing (hopefully) rather than sitting in England freezing.
After my holiday, you would expect me to be returning to work? Well, in a manner of speaking I will be. I will be spending two weeks in Norwich. I will, of course, come home at the weekend in order to do some washing (mostly). I would stay over the weekend if I was rich enough, but I can’t afford 3 nights at the rates the company are paying! Not on what the company are paying me.

(1) I’ve always wondered: a monkey’s what? Is this rhyming slang? (2) Small children seem to like me. I don’t know why, perhaps I smell like a small child? Perhaps I look like ‘mummy’. Maybe I look like the kind of person who has lots of sweets. Whatever the reason, small children seem to like me. Usually it’s the under-5 age group which are most attracted to me, generally with chocolate-covered hands or snotty noses. (3) Do you suppose Saharan sand is different from other sand? It’s not like the sand at Cleethorpes, that’s gold-coloured. Saharan sand is white apparantly. Although they tell me that some of the Canary islands have black sand, from the volcano. That’s pretty cool. I’ve seen actual white sand before – in Florida.

Further Excitement!

Today I created the Migration to York Notice Board according to a plan given to Cleggton by our project manager. Smashing. It’s a bit cock-eyed, but that’s what comes from having only paper and blu-tack, not an actual notice board.
With any luck I will start to feel useful now, having a clearly defined task which is to tack stuff back up when it falls down. Woo. (!)
So, anyway. I will now be moving on.

M.I.A

I have not blogged for a while. Except for my post about what kind of lover I am. I apologise for my absence. This said, I am likely to be absent for another while. I have five weeks of not being in York planned, beginning soon. Poor Dom will be on his lonesome for three of those five weeks. As part of the migration project at work…

First, lets have some history.
Back in November you may remember my posting about judgement day where we discovered that our equivalent team in Norwich was being shipped up to York. This meant that we were going to have to learn the work.
It’s fairly pants really, closing down a team in one place just to make another team bigger somewhere else.
So anyway, this launched the Migration Project. The aim of the project is to bring up all of the work, knowledge, skills, software and documentation which currently resides in Norwich, to York. Unfortunately only two of the team in Norwich are willing to relocate to York. This creates a specific problem – how can us York people learn what the Norwich people have been doing for years (decades in some cases) and run our own systems to the usual standard? Well, the answer seems to be that it is irrelevant. It’s going to happen, and it’s going to happen before July 1.

So, the next event in this joyful chain was the creation of the project. We were informed in early January that it was likely that we would have to do some shadowing of our colleagues in the south. Having announced this, the project began to plan who would go to Norwich and when. With only three day’s notice, I shipped off for my first tour of shadowing. Three of my York colleagues also went.
So, there we were. I’ve never been to Norwich before, and it was not as I was expecting. Much raving had been done about the cathedral there. Hm. I’m afraid that having lived in or near the cities which are home to two of the three most important ecclesiastical sites in the country (1) I was expecting more. In fairness, I have not been into the cathedral. It is probably glorious. I didn’t actually realise that it was the cathedral I was walking past until one of my colleagues said so.
Much raving had also been done about the castle, which is unusual looking, and is on my list of places to visit. I wish that we had more free time while we were down there, but still – it is work!

Anyway, my general impressions of the place were good. I enjoyed some good food (Thanks Jimbobjo for that Italian!) and didn’t go over my food budget at all! There is also a Subway and a Pretzel place – which sells the city for me – and also there is Primark! Woo! Cheap clothes! So anyway, that’s good.
I’m particularly looking forward to the week when I am the only person from York down there. Fan-blinking-tastic.
Oh well, could be worse…

(1) The three most important ecclesiastical sites in the country are:

1. Canterbury
2. York
3. Lincoln

DGLMf

So, I went to the link given by Mr Black recently.
It turns out I'm a Deliberate Gentle Love Master (apparantly)
It goes like this:-

• Charismatic, affectionate, and terrific in relationships, you are what many guys would call a "perfect catch"--and you probably have many admirers, each wishing to capture your long-term love. You're careful, extra careful, because the last thing you want is to hurt anyone. Especially some poor boy whose only crime was liking you.
• Your exact opposite:
  Half-cocked
  Random Brutal Sex Dreamer
• We've deduced you're fully capable of a dirty fling, but you do feel that post-coital attachment after hooking up. So, conscientious person that you are, you do your best to reserve physical affection for those you respect...so you can respect yourself.
• Your biggest negative is the byproduct of your careful nature: indecision. You're just as slow rejecting someone as you are accepting them.
• ALWAYS AVOID: The False Messiah, The 5-Night Stand, The Vapor Trail, The Bachelor
• CONSIDER: The Gentleman, someone just like you.

So - er... Maybe that's not quite on the mark - or maybe it is...

Anti Blog Post

Up until this point I have stood firm in the "Blogging is good" corner.

I have now changed my mind.

Two of my friends are arguing, via blog, about something which was said/read in the wrong way.

I am not sure that blogging is good anymore. Perhaps I will have to put up small posters extolling things I have done and like in my house. It will reach less people, but therefore will cause less disputes.

I was going to comment on the situation, but am not. If you don't see me blogging for a while you know why.
I may return - I don't know.