...in which I am hopeful

Happy New Year's Eve people :) I hope 2011 is a good year for everyone. I'm feeling quite good about it myself, despite the alarming rate at which it looms closer.

Here are my resolutions;

1. Be healthier (including taking vitamins)
2. Carry on learning Greek
3. Be more organised
4. Become a beekeeper
5. Keep playing badminton


And here is the obligatory end of year meme;

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?

Flew a plane. Cooked risotto.


2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't think I made any for this year. I have some good ones for 2011...


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Nope, but there's a lot of babies due next year.


4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thankfully.


5. What countries did you visit?

None.


6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

A place on a PGCE course. More money.


7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

No specific dates, just periods of epic fun times.


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Being the bigger person.


9. What was your biggest failure?

Wasting money.


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

The return of my abscess, a couple of chest infections and massive hayfever sufferage.


11. What was the best thing you bought?

Boots <3.


12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

My friends, my family, and my in-laws. Just for all being lovely and amazing.


13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

I can't name names, but nothing serious.


14. Where did most of your money go?

Rent, petrol, food. Thrilling :).


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Christmas.


16. What song will always remind you of 2010?

Take That - The Flood
Flo Rida - Club Can't Handle Me
Stereo Love - Edward Maya featuring Vika Jigulina


17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder? Happier.
ii. Thinner or fatter? The same I think.
iii. Richer or poorer? Poorer.


18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Travelling and writing.


19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Working and worrying.


20. How will you be spending Christmas?

I spent it with family.


21. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?

At two house parties :).


22. Did you fall in love in 2010?

No, I was already in love.


23. How many one-night stands?

None.


24. What was your favourite TV program?

Two and a Half Men, X Factor.


25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

No.


26. What was the best book you read?

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom


27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Eh, I don't think I discovered much this year.


28. What did you want and get?

I wanted a nice Christmas, and I got it.


29. What did you want and not get?

A massive Lottery win.


30. What was your favourite film of this year?

Inception was amazing, Deathly Hallows also brilliant. I also re-discovered how awesome The Mummy is.


31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I went to work on my birthday and then out for a nice meal. But on the weekend before I had cocktails with my favourite people :). Oh, and I was 23.


32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

A cat.


33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Haha, it has no name.


34. What kept you sane?

Escapism.


35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

David Tennant.


36. What political issue stirred you the most?

The whole election was very interesting.


37. Who did you miss?

The friends I didn't see often enough.


38. Who was the best new person you met?

Ginette and Jenny (new peepz in my department at work).


39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

Worrying gets you nowhere.


40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

Nooooo, I'm having a total blank right now. Something optimistic and lovely :).

... in which I'm warding off post Crimbo-blues

Well, Christmas has been absolutely lovely :)

After a terrific lay in this morning, John and I are getting ready to see more family that we didn't see over Christmas, and then to celebrate my "little" brother's 21st birthday with a curry. Om nom nom nom nom.

My brother's birthday also marks 2 weeks until my birthday. Huzzah!

Happy Christmas to you lot!

...in which I sniffle

Health fail. Lurgy win.

God I'm so ill. It's a gross cold along with a chest infection and it's knocked me for six.

I have left my house only to food shop, and pick up a penguin parcel from the sorting office.

The rest of my time has been spent drinking tea and alternating between watching Disney movies and Tennant-era Doctor Who.

C'mon antibodies!! I need to be rid of these vile diseases :)

...in which am equal parts happy and sad

It was the last day of term yesterday (whoop whoop!). I was really pleased to get to this point because this time last year our last day of term was cancelled due to epic snow, which made me sad because I love the Christmassy atmosphere at work.

But it all went ahead yesterday. After a bit of a disastrous start to the day car-wise. My car was frozen shut when I went out to her at 7.20am. After wrestling with both doors I managed to get the passenger door open and took refuge inside with the engine on for a few moments before beginning 20 minutes of scraping windows. I then managed to get the drivers door open... and then accidently drove off with the passenger door wide open. Fail.

I spent period 1 at work with Jo making a quiz for our period 3 lesson. I spent period 2 taking a year 10 maths class, which involved watching Meet the Parents and making sure the little lovelies stayed out of trouble. And then it turned out period 3 wasn't on, so my brilliant quiz went to waste. Quelle shame :)

After a quick assembly we went for lunch. And then the snow started... it began so suddenly, literally we walked past a window and went "ooh, look at those clouds, it might snow later," and then when we came back past the same window two minutes later everything was blanketed in white! Madness.

It was such a great atmosphere in the staff room. There was a row of people pressed up against the windows going "oooh, it's so pretty" whilst the rest of the staff were going "zomg, how will I get home?!"

Eventually our Headmaster sent us all home early. Winner!

I arrived home and promptly fell asleep on the sofa for an hour or so whilst Jeremy Kyle wittered on in the background.

And alas! When I woke up my chest was sore. And I knew, sadly, that a chest infection was on it's way.

I've woken up this morning to amazing, beautiful snow, and a horrid chesty cough. You win some, you lose some.

Happy Christmas holidays :)

... in which my inner fangirl takes over

This is my 100th post on here.

woohoo

And I'm going to use it to proclaim my love for Take That.



Also, thank you to the loyal bods who keep reading :)

...in which I tell the legend of the Northolt Blackout

One Saturday morning in December, Katie was woken by John who had bad news.

"The plumber is meant to be here in 45 minutes to fix the water pump, but the electricity has gone in our building," he explained to a sleepy (and hungover!) Katie.

"Bugger," mumbled Katie in reply.

A short while later, the two of them were still without power, but ready to crack on with the plans they had made for Saturday. John had planned a Man Day with Leigh and Rob, at Rob's house, which was a few doors down from where he and Katie lived.

Katie was travelling to Birmingham with Leigh's girlfriend Alice to go to The Clothes Show Live. Luckily the girls' day was not scuppered by the blackout, however the boys soon discovered that the whole of their street was without power and alas! They had to relocate Man Day to Rob's parents house.

Several hours later at around 7pm, after thoroughly enjoying themselves at The Clothes Show, the girls returned to Katie's flat in Northolt to discover that the whole street was still in a blackout.

After a hurried phone call to the boys, everyone gathered back together at Rob's (dark dark) house where a hundred candles were lit and Chinese food was ordered. After a hearty meal and watching "See no Evil, Hear no Evil" on a laptop running on battery the five of them began to feel the chill, and fluffy blankets had to be utilised.

As 11 o clock neared, movement could be heard outside.

Suddenly, something roared into life in the road below and began to hum monotonously.

"What's that?" cried Rob as they all ran to the windows in excitement. As their eyes focussed in the dark and they realised that the humming was a large generator the lights in Rob's flat flickered on, to be greeted by cheers and whoops.

The end.

********


This was a true story. Sadly, in the epilogue, the electricity lasted until Sunday night and has been intermittent ever since.


7 working days until the Christmas holidays :)

Luckily I've started my shopping too!

... in which I apologise AGAIN

Oh, readers! I haven't forgotten you.

I've just been very busy doing a lot of un-blog-worthy stuff (like work.... blerg).

Last night I went to see my school's production of Our House.... t'was brilliant.

Tonight (soon in fact) I am off out to Ealing with some work peeps for a few drinks.

Tomorrow I'm going to The Clothes Show. Exciting!

Proper update coming soon for you lovelies <3

... in which I sound like a little bit of a Scrooge

I have two gripes today.

My first is these people who have already finished their Christmas shopping, written all their cards and wrapped all their presents. SHUTUP! I am so very behind on my Chrimboli shopping. I have tonnes of great ideas for presents, but haven't done anything about my great ideas yet.

Secondly, who are these fucking morons who drive around during the day (or night, but especially the day) with their fucking FULL BEAM headlights on. Um, why? You're in Hillingdon, not the fucking wilderness. Idiots. It really bugs me.

Ohhhh, John, me and both our mums went out to see Harry Potter last night. T'was amazing. I won't say more because I don't want to be spoiling stuff. But.... wow.

We're off to the Birtish Museum today, even though I said we were doing that last Sunday. We're doing it today instead. 'citin'!

ttfn

... in which there is... fog?

Oh, fog! Bravo! Very mysterious.

I can't decide if I like the fog or not. On the one hand, very moody and atmospheric, and actually quite inspiring Nanowrimo-wise.

On the other hand, it's cold and it makes driving a bit of a white-knuckle experience.

Eddie Izzard has some valid points on fog;

...in which I rush

Bullet points today people.

- I love my work people. I'm part of a really nice, close-knit team.

- Having said that, this half term is a hard one, work-wise. I think it's the time of year. And the weather. Which has been filthy for the past two days.

- I'm looking forward to playing badminton tomorrow, I haven't played for ages because of this dumb chest infection.

- My shoe fell apart today #devastated

- I know I'm not on Twitter :-/

- Johnboy and I have been watching An Idiot Abroad, it's much better than I thought it would be.

- It makes me want to go travelling.

- Especially to Egypt. But that's not all Karl Pilkington's fault, I can also lay blame at the door of Pharaoh and The Mummy.

- Going mummy hunting at the British Museum this weekend! Fun times.

- Goodnight x

... in which I need to be in two places at once

*coughcoughcoughcoughcough*

Yes, that's me. Still. Although generally speaking I am miles better than I was this time last week. At least my voice is back, and my appetite is on it's merry little way back :)

So, I'm well on my way with Nanowrimo and feeling good about it. I also need to get a film developed from my Diana camera. My to-do list just seems endless right now, and the fact that I have WoW back on my computer, and I'm making lots of headway with my game of Pharaoh isn't helping.

I watched Castaway last night for the first time. T'was brilliant. Have also been getting involved with The Mummy and The Mummy Returns over the past week; both brilliant. And both good background noise for when I'm playing Pharaoh.

And I'm off..... got breakfast and coffee to be dealing with before I tackle the day!

... in which I moan

I'm still sick. My doctor said this might take 10 days to pass, I was hoping to send it on it's way in 2 days with the magic of green tea.

But here I am, 4 days later, still sick. The appetite comes back intermittently but my voice has gone. I need it back by Monday otherwise I'll be useless at work. Unless I make cue cards such as;

Sit up!
Stop talking!
Don't rock on your chair!
Where's *your* pen? (in response to "Miiiiss, can I borrow a pen?")

John has been looking after me really well. He took me out for lunch and a coffee since I hadn't left the house for days, and also bought me a magazine, a big Milky Bar and lemon Fanta for entertaining myself at home. Nice :)

And then we got home and carved pumpkins (mine was best but we're letting our Facebook friends judge it for us). We then finished off with Chinese food and watching X Factor.

And that's it.

Hope you're all well, and have a Happy Hallowe'en!

... in which I long for hunger

I am so ill.

When it comes to my health, I know that when I can't eat, something is srsly wrong.

Cat and I went out for lunch and I couldn't eat my steak sandwich. Because it was raw steak :-/ but then Cat moaned and it came back cooked and yummy but then I couldn't eat it because of The Lurgy.

Anyway, by sheer luck I got a doctor's appointment in the afternoon and she told me I have a virus. She can't give me meds for a virus, so I need to rest, drink lots of water, and knock back the painkillers to get my temperature down.

Boring.

Especially when I should have been going shopping tomorrow, and raving on Friday.

Even though I'm not hungry I really want a pizza. John has given me some dosh to order a pizza with, but I'm worried that it'll arrive and my belly will go "uh, no. Do not want."

I might try making one instead. Watch this space...

... in which I make a list

Bonje lovely people :) I can seeeeeee yoooooooou!

Right, I'm on half term. For those of you sharing in this glorious time with me, happy half term to you. So on day 1 I have managed to do these things;

1. Not sleep all day
2. Wash up all the stuff from last night's (epic) roast
3. Do a food shop
4. Learn some more Greek words
5. Watch Cheryl Cole's interview with Piers Morgan
6. Play lots of Pharaoh

For dinner tonight I'm attempting to cook a mushroom risotto Jamie Oliver stylee. This was the main reason for leaving my comfy warm house and embarking on a food shop; I needed mushrooms.

Porcini mushrooms to be precise. However, Sainsburys let me down and didn't have any porcini mushrooms. So I got mini portobella mushrooms instead, I'm sure they will work just the same.*

I've been drinking a lot of coffee recently. Less than when I worked in a coffee shop, but more than my normal not-working-in-a-coffee-shop self. I adore the taste and the smell... and being a bit of a coffee nerd, I'll stop there before I bore you all. But I'm worried about caffeine dependency. Do not want. I don't want to be a miserable bugger on a day where I don't have a coffee.

Ha! Ok, I need to go and work out what I'll be writing for Nanowrimo... I might give the horror genre a try this year.




* I'm not that naive about mushrooms. I adore portobella mushrooms but for all their yumminess they are not porcini and I'm worrying about the quality of this risotto.

... in which I am rewarded

So, I really like my mobile phone company. I've never had any issues with them, and quite recently they provided me with a lovely iPoon.

Today, they sent me chocolate in the post.

On a day where I really wanted chocolate and discovered that I had none in the house.

Boo yeah :)

... in which I am in awe

Yay :)

Today is my parents' 25th wedding anniversary. They invited me, John and Chris out for dinner with them tonight to celebrate. Me and John said yes, but Chris told them he's stuck in Bournemouth and can't come.

The twist is, that he'll be waiting at the restaurant when we get there.

... in which I apologise

Gidday!

Happy lovely sunny Sunday to all you lovely people.

I've just come back inside from an impromptu badminton game out in the garden with John. The wind made it interesting :)

But yes, I know how it looks. It looks like I've been slacking on the blog front. I've just been busy, with tonnes of work and applications and stuff and things...

I'll do better from now on, I promise :)

...in which we have an anniversary

A year ago today, John and I moved into this flat.

And I seriously can't believe it's been that long, it only feels like a few months ago. Mind-boggling. But in a totally great way.

It feels like home here, I'd be sad to leave :)

... in which I am very excited

I am very excited, and I am very sick (literally).

Also, I am sick (figuratively) of the poo bum weather in this country. Ergo, here is my new plan.

1. Emigrate to a beautiful sunny country (I'm thinking Cyprus at the moment)
2. Buy a lovely house near a beach
3. Grow lemons and grapes
4. Make a fortune selling AWESOME lemons and grapes (and vino?)
5. Retire young and live out the rest of my life (John's life too, but he is unaware of the plan as I write this) in this lovely sunny country, eating good food, meeting nice people and visiting gorgeous beaches.

The end.

See you later!

... in which the streak ends

Wahey!

Last week felt like the longest week in a long time... similarly, September feels like it's been here for an age. And it's not over yet!

So I have some bug thing that makes me feel like I'm hungry, and then makes me feel sick and sore when I do eat. Do not want. I want to eat pizza.

John, Leigh, Alice and I went to watch Chelsea vs Newcastle last week. It didn't end well for us, which threw me because I'd never been to a match that Chelsea didn't win. I was starting to consider myself their lucky charm. But it was a great game, despite the score. Very exciting!

My weekends was full of plans that nearly all fell through, but I still had a nice time chilling out with John. This weekend brings more fun stuff, including Nas being home again from uni. So yay!

I'm really struggling with that to buy my parents for their silver wedding anniversary. All the gifts I've looked at so far are boring. My dad is a very tricky man to buy presents for, which I think is why it's so tricky.

And once I get their anniversary sorted, I'll have to start thinking about his birthday present, haha. He really needs to get more hobbies - hobbies that I can buy accessories for!

I'm gonna go and tackle the washing up now, and start my ponderings about dinner. Chelsea play again tonight so I'm eagerly anticipating a nice win from them :)

Ta-ra!

... in which I have a reality check

So John and I took a trip to my parents on Tuesday.... when we arrived the gates were shut so I pulled in to phone the parentals and ask them to open the gates.

Out comes my phone, I start ringing "home"... and it rings and rings and rings and rings and rings and rings...

And I'm going "this is outrageous! The cars are there, everyone is home!"

It took me another couple of minutes to realise that I'd been calling my house, instead of my parents house. Doy!

I swear my week has been more interesting than this event, but a bigger update comes soon.

... in which I consider becoming a doctor

Not really.

So I was stuck in traffic coming home from work on Wednesday and I noticed a bruise on my wrist. I'm baffled as to where I got it from. But anyway... I began to have a conversation with myself about bruises;

Me: wow, that bruise is sore
Me: a bruise happens when little capillaries burst
Me: yeah but why does it hurt?
Me: because it's a bruise
Me: :-/

John and myself are having a chilled night in tonight, watching the X Factor and eating Chinese food. And I won't feel bad about it because I played hardcore badminton on Wednesday and Friday, and also did lots of Wii bowling yesterday. I r teh healthy!

Hope you're all having a nice weekend :)

... in which I blah blah blah

So, when you last saw me I was about to embark on an adventure to Westfield with John, Leigh and Alice to watch Scott Pilgrim vs The World.

We embarked. We enjoyed. We had a lovely dinner afterwards. And then we joined some more of John's friends in Moons. Leigh and Alice didn't stay long, so I became the only girl very quickly. But I do enjoy those nights a lot.

Anyway, it was hilarious fun and I got shamefully drunk on a glass and a half of wine. Shocking :/

The night ended with me and John getting into the lovely BMW that Rob is car-sitting and playing with the convertible roof for a little while whilst revving the very powerful engine.

After my reaction to a small amount of wine at the weekend, I decided that joining John and his friends for wine-tasting on Tuesday night was bound to be a good idea :)

Turns out it was!

Which brings me to this point (kinda). The point that I am at is that this week has gone quite fast, but not fast enough obviously otherwise the weekend would be here now.

I had a meeting with the Headmaster at work today to talk about... well, about how awesome I am really. He called me "brilliant" which made me feel like I was back in school and trying to please him, haha. But it was a good meeting and I have a couple of balls rolling which will hopefully lead to naught but more awesomeness.

TTFN readers x

... in which I got the love!

I had such a fun day yesterday after I left work. I ran (drove) to my old place of work... Costa Ruislip.

The newly refurbished Costa Ruilip, akshully. But that's not the important bit. The important bit is that Suzy and Alyssa were there waiting for me on new squishy sofas. And so was Jack, but he was actually working :)

So we drank coffee and nommed the nice food and had a catch up. And we phoned Hayley because she should have been there but wasn't. So we phoned her to forgive her.

Then! Sarah turned up. Sarah moved from Ruislip to Lincolnshire about a year ago and we hadn't seen her since, but in some weird twist of fate she was back in the area to pick up a laptop from being repaired. So that was a strange but nice coincidence.

And Nicky was there too. It was like a big AWESOME reunion :)

When Jack finished work the four of us bundled into my (tiny but clean clean clean) car and we went to Moons to eat chips and have a drink and laugh more about when we used to be hungover or drunk at work - back in our crazy young days!

And then sadly we all had to go our separate ways. Which made me sad, cause I love them so much, but we'll do it again soon, so there is less sad than there otherwise would be.

Today I am going to the cinema with Johnboy, Leigh and Alice to see the Scott Pilgrim one that I'm mildy curious about and John is desperate to see. It'll be interesting.

In the evening we'll be going to Moons. Haha, I love that place.

Have a good weekend!

...in which I am a bit behind on the updates

Ugh, it's almost a week since my last entry. I blame the fact that I've been at work, rather than sitting on my botty watching Jeremy Kyle.

But anyway; I got my car back :) :) :)

It was so nice to drive her again! Now I can zip about and fit through small spaces and know exactly when I need to brake, aaaaah. My car is awesome, I'm so lucky.

Work has been hard but rewarding in it's usual way. We've been really short staffed, so everyone has had to pull together and work things out. But we're getting there. I get my timetable soon and I'll feel more settled when I do.

Also.... good stuff is happening at work. I can't say much because I don't know much, but I have a meeting next week to figure stuff out. Citing!

... in which I am over-excited

Hello. Nice to see you again :) and a very happy Friday to all you lovely peoploids out there.

Bullet point form today. I may change my mind halfway through.

1. I LOVE MY COURTESY CAR!! I've noticed that I feel a little carsick while driving him sometimes, but I think that's because I feel like I'm cheating on my own car. Poor Baby will hopefully be back with me next Tuesday.


2. WEEKEND!! (I'm very excited today, hello capslockkatie). This week has felt so long, but it's been enjoyable and I secretly quite like being back at work.


3. I have a lot to do this weekend.


4. I am loving this weather. Ignore what I said in my 2nd bullet point, I wish I was off work to enjoy this nice sunshine.


5. INBETWEENERS SEPTEMBER 13TH!


6. I have lots of Darren Hayes DVDs to get through this weekends thanks to my friend Sally.


7. That is all. Have a good weekend!

... in which I have a SHINY NEW TOY!

31st August. Back to work. Unimpressed that I am working in August. Even the people who are horrified about the amount of time I have off work (and refer to it as my part-time job) are shocked that we're back in August. But it was a training day today so I enjoyed it.

ANYWAY...




This is Big; my courtesy car whilst Baby is off getting fixed.

I am a big chickenshit when it comes to most driving-related things. Since I've passed my test I've (properly) driven two cars - my Polo and my Mini, and I've had the Mini for about two and a half years now!

So when I found this brute waiting for me I was naturally terrified. And once I got in the driving seat I realised I was right to be terrified. As someone who thinks her Mini is a "chunky car" (lol), I was overwhelmed with how big this is in comparison.

And it's fast. It likes going fast. And it likes to stall.

You can't hear the engine either, so there's a bit of paranoia going on. Have I stalled?! Oh no, the car just likes to whisper.

But!

The windscreen is massive which I love. Baby's windscreen is so small that when I'm waiting at traffic lights I can't always see them, which naturally can cause problems :) so I like seeing things.

It has 4 doors. I never have more than one person in my car anyway, but 4 doors is nice.

BIG BOOT!!! I had a shock yesterday when I went into Jo's car boot and was like "omg! I forgot that not all car boots are the size of shoeboxes!" You can live in Big's boot.

And there was something else... possibly about the fact that it is fast. And I feel high up when I'm driving instead of close to the floor. So the terror is more like adrenaline, and I like it.

... in which I add a P.S.

Oh yeah... I also spent Wednesday on the tube. Not the entire day obviously, but it felt like it at the time.

John and I went to Westfield in the morning (which was a blast) and then travelled home in the afternoon when the rain was putting in an unwelcome appearance. Ergo, we got a big wet. A lot wet. It was horrible.

And then in the rain (*shakes first*) I travelled back into London in the evening to see Gemma and Laura. And despite my rocky start to the night thanks to a bloody useless incompetent laaaaaaaaazy arse cab driver, it was really really nice to catch up with the girls.

I miss being at uni. Life was so easy then - despite what we thought at the time :)

... in which I try to refrain from saying "time flies"

Oh dear, I feel a very disjointed blog coming on. So I'm warning you now, there is a good chance that chronology takes a massive hit in this entry. Never mind.

I really miss having cats strolling around the house. It's unfair. I'm the only one of my friends to not have

a) a cat or
b) a sister

And speaking of friends, I've been seeing quite a lot of them this week. I did an awesome clothes-swap-partay with Jo and Annetta during which I acquired Bowie shirt no. 8 which I love (surprise surprise). We've also drunk a lot of tea together, watched random Sex and the City episodes and gossiped to our hearts content. Good times.

So considering the dent in Baby's bumper is entirely not my fault, I've had to waste and awful lot of my time on the phone to people sorting it out. But I think it's all done now and she goes in for repairs next Tuesday. And I get a courtesy car which is terrifying :)

I think it's quite sad that in August we already have A/W clothes in the shops. Having said that though, I am adoring the new clothes! As much as I love love love the sunshine, there is something quite nice about being wrapped up in a big snuggly jumper. And counting down the days to Christmas!

(Oh shut up, Inner Child)

:D

Oh gosh, and then it'll be my birthday.

... in which I feel a shift

Whew, it's been an eventful few days.

Friday was spent packing up our things, cleaning up and having the last few cat-cuddles before John's parents came back from holidays. When they got home we hung out for a while and ordered Chinese food. It would have been a really nice evening were it not for the fact that I was inwardly fuming.

John and I took a lightning speed trip to Waitrose before his family got home to get them bread and milk and during the 60 seconds (no exaggeration) that I was inside the store, somebody put a massive dent in the back of my car.

Luckily she was very honest and gave her details... but srsly? I left poor Baby for no more than a minute. Not cool.

Saturday was spent re-acquainting ourself with the flat :) it sounds weird but we missed it a lot so we chilled out all day and got the place looking normal again, rather than the messy barely-lived-in state it was in.

Today I am cooking beef casserole. 'Citin' because I've never cooked it before and so far it smells amazing! And I'm getting involved with Sister Act whilst I wait for it to cook. Good times :)

Also... my iPhone is amazing. I think it will literally change my life.

... in which I appreciate the shiny

Sup?

I've been a bit lazy with the old blog this week, but there hasn't been an awful lot of exciting news to share with y'all, so I don't feel too guilty :)

Had a lovely relaxed day on Monday for John's birthday which involved lots of nice treats and seeing some of his family.

I hung out with Jo on Tuesday and had a proper catch up (as opposed to drunken ramblings) about her holiday and loads of other stuff. Including the size of the world we live in. It's small, that's what it is. We live in a bloody small world.

And Wednesday (which I do believe was yesterday) John and I went to T'London Aquarium to mingle with the fishes (and frogs!!). It was full of children but brilliant nonetheless. We saw sharks, and seahorses, and piranhas, and eels and waxwork models of Ant and Dec which were rather freaky :-/

This morning we got up early (before the cats) and abandoned our house-sitting duties briefly whilst we visited home to check on Luke and wait for my parcel. And it arrived quickly, luckily for my not-so-patient self. I pride myself on having good manners, but I did almost snatch it from the poor delivery man's hands.

It was my new iPhone. Well, not my new iPhone, because I've never had one before, but it was a shiny new iPhone for me and oh, I love it. I have named him Didier :)

... in which I experience another hangover

Happy Sunday you buggers :)

Well here we go. In 1 hour and 45 minutes it is John's birthday, which I am very excited about. Maybe even more excited than he is, although he assures me this isn't true.

And so last night a group of us went out to celebrate the birthday that is occurring tomorrow. It was an amazing night, I had an obscene amount of fun with a smashing bunch of people. Unfortunately the drinks just kept on coming so John and I are both... well, not feeling brilliant. So we've had a lovely lazy day :)

Lovely!

... in which I finish what I started

Ollie said "ham" yesterday :) John and I are very proud.

At the suggestion of John's friends, I may try teaching the cats to say "veal" next.

... in which I am productive

I flew a plane today. It was awesome ♥

So... two cats live in John's parents house; Ollie and Chelsea who are brother and sister. They are both gorgeous fuzzy little things with lovely personalities, but the general consensus is that Ollie is not quite as clever as his sister.

Today I tried to teach them both to say "ham".

Katie: say "ham"!
Chelsea: ham (in a meowing sort of way)

Katie: say "ham"
Ollie: *blank look*
Katie: "ham"
Ollie: *purr purr*


Haha, they are both so adorable that it's hard not to squee out loud when they're around.

... in which I feel like a kid in a candy shop

I HAVE AN IPOON ON IT'S WAY TO ME!

Very exciting.

And I'm having a flying lesson tomorrow. Boo yeah :)

... in which I hope I'm at least a little coherant

INCEPTION FTW!

Ooh la la, I was absolutely blown away.

And it was doubly nice because it followed a delicious meal with John.

The beginning of my evening contained a little bit of fail however. I began at Ann's house where the three of us - Nas included - baked some brownies and then got into a couple of lengthy discussions (at least one was about brownies) which made me late leaving to get back to Ruislip.

When I finally got around to leaving, the deadly combination of rush hour and chubby rain meant that I pulled out of her road into gridlock. Excellent.

But that shouldn't have been a problem, after all I'm a very patient person *snort* and I've stomached many a traffic jam before. Except that Baby (my car) was pretty much running on empty and my nifty petrol button was telling me I had 7 miles of petrol left in the tank.

That number fell to 6 before I'd moved even ten yards. At one point (not much further on) it fell to 4 and I'd barely moved in the last 10 minutes, so I began to get frantic and I resorted to something I'd not done since the days of driving my Polo.

I patted the dashboard and offered words of encouragement. And I'm not saying that my car has ears or anything, but I did get to the nearest petrol station in time :)

Happy ending.

... in which I feel like time is flying

Bonje!

So... three weeks into my holiday and three weeks to go. Is nice.

Saturday evening was a nice little blur of good company, Harry Potter films and Chinese food. Sunday was mostly lazy with a trip out in the evening to Uxbridge to celebrate Alex turning 25.

And whilst I don't see 25 as "old", it made 23-year-old me feel slightly old. It seems like only yesterday that Cat and I were 21 and ripping into Alex because she was turning 23 and was on her way to old age. Oh gee, look at us now :)

Oh yeah, and Chelsea... wth guys? Losing 3-1 is not cool when John and I had to spend time with Man Utd supporters the very same evening!

The house-sitting adventure is going well, it's nice to have somewhere different to potter around in, and having cats running through the house all day makes a nice change to having zero cats!

As if on cue, Chelsea-cat came and invaded my lap space and stare at my screen for a few seconds to make sure she is getting a mention in le blog.

I'm loving the weather today. I took a stroll in the sunshine up to Ruislip High Street to buy bread and nibbly things (croissants ftw!!) and a little treat in the form of a Costa latte which was enjoyed in the garden with a magazine and feline company.

I think this week will fly by because it's my first week of having John off work, I have a flying lesson on Thursday and it's John's birthday shindig at the weekend. Bring it on :)

... in which my location changes

Good morning and a happy Saturday to all.

And happy birthday to Alexine ♥

Yesterday was a good one, I took a trip into Harrow with Ann and Nas where a generally nice day was had. We did some walking, saw some lovely things, took some pictures and overall had a bit of a giggle.

The evening found me curled up on the sofa watching my new copy of Me Without You (awesome if you've never seen it) and waiting for John to arrive home from work; his last day of work for three weeks :)

And when he did arrive we set off an a house/cat-sitting adventure. Needless to say I'm looking forward to spending two weeks with two lovely cats in a lovely house. But we can't bring Luke along to the house (pesky cats are pesky) so we'll be splitting time between here and our flat.

And I'm off. Cats to feed, hair to be washed, tea to be drunk.... busy busy busy!

... in which I indulge

I don't feel well and am missing a hen party because of it, so to cheer myself up I'm gonna rave about some of the things I've been loving recently.

1. Epic wall clock from www.heals.co.uk



I saw it when I was shopping recently and the size of it blew me away. It's so big an imposing that you can almost hear it booming the time at you. I absolutely love it, but alas! I also love the teeny weeny clock we already have :)








2. No. 7 High Shine Lip Gloss (Smile flavour)



I can't usually rave about beauty products but I do think that No. 7 is a fantastic brand. And their lipgloss is yummy and stays on for ages.



3. Ollie and Nic

A gorgeous little shop <3 It was hard to exercise self control in there... even now I'm not sure how I managed.



4. Glee

Say what you want, I don't care.


5. Terry Pratchett

I just finished reading The Light Fantastic which is the second book in the Discworld series, and I'm about to move onto the third. It's great stuff, he's a very, very clever man.

... in which I set out my tasks

Wuhu!

Feeling (slightly) better today - although it's hard to tell for sure whilst still lounging in jammies.

After yesterday I need to be doubly productive today. I need to go and do stuff. Boring stuff. Banking.

And exciting stuff - buying a birthday present for John. I know what it is, and I know where to find it, so it should be an easy task.

In doing these things I also need to remember to not let shiny things and/or gorgeous shoes distract me from my tasks. And to not wander into a coffee shop.

Alreeet. Let's get going...

... in which I have the sad

Yeah, a little bit of the sad.

I spent far too much time this morning (4.30am-9.00am) feeling horrifically sick instead of doing what I should have been doing. Snoozing.

I did manage to catch up on the snooze from 9am-12pm but it meant that I then missed out on playing badminton with Cat which I'd been really looking forward to, and on getting my phone upgraded which is so overdue now it's ridiculous.

So instead of having the planned fun, I went out food shopping which is fun in it's own silly way. And now I'm home, reading one of my old Enid Blyton books for a bit of nostalgia. "Oh, I say! This lemonade is smashing!" etc etc etc. I think it's good for the soul. Nostalgia, that is.

Lemonade is great too.

And now my plans for the rest of the day involve the following;

- watching random eps of Sex and the City
- making a 3 bean salad
- dribbling over pictures of the new iPhone
- having several cups of tea

TTFN

.. in which I share my learnings

As someone with a Greek-Cypriot dad, I have been under the impression for years that I have olive skin. Turns out, I don't!

I'm pale.

Which I don't mind really. It's just kind of a surprise to learn that after all those years.

I went into work this morning to use the gym and play badminton. There was only two of us today (instead of the usual 4/5) so we played singles which is so much harder. But I feel good for the workout.

And my other friend wants to play tomorrow. I know by Wednesday I'll be aching like billy-o but it's too much fun to turn down.

TTFN, I need to go and start organising some form of dinner :)

...in which I confess

... to lusting after this Louis Vuitton bag;

http://www.louisvuitton.com/uk/flash/index.jsp?direct1=home_entry_gb

It's very pretty and very expensive. The kind of bag I would use to death. Unfortunately when most of your hard earned squids go towards food, petrol, rent and saving for a house (with a gaaaaarden) then LV bags have to take a back seat :)

... in which I marvel

I should feel really rough but surprisingly I don't.

John and I visited my parentals for dinner last night; I went with a stomach ache and the decision to not eat too much dinner for that very reason. Well, my mum is a fantastic cook so that plan went to pot and I wolfed down a very delicious dinner.

When we got home, John got on with some gaming, and I started to watch the 100 Greatest Scary TV/Movie Moments. Being an epic wimp, I did wonder whether this was the best thing to watch before bedtime, but I soldiered on through it, and at 2.30am we went to bed.

At 5.30am I was still awake and livid at whatever it was stopping me falling asleep, although I wasn't entirely sure what it was.

Anyway, here I am, up at 11am and not feeling too bad. It might be something to do with the lovely roast dinner I have to look forward to later :) oh yeah.

...in which I return to my beloved bloggy

I'm coming back :)

I just read back through all my entries on here, and it felt awesome. I decided I definitely need to get back into updating over here on Blogger.

Watch this space...