Category Archives: Personal

So The DIY Project That I Mentioned Yesterday

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was hanging blackout blinds in our bedroom.

You see, another thing we *love* about this flat is all of the light. We get the morning light, since we face east, and then we get the evening sun because the building across the street is all glass and the sun reflects off of it.

The bad thing about this is that the sun rises in the UK at this time of year at around 0500 and sets around 2145. So it really starts to get light in the morning at 0430 and its bright daylight in our bedroom by around 0515.

So for the past couple of weeks I’ve been waking up at 0430. Every.Fecking.Day. I’ve also not been sleeping solid anyway, so getting up at 0430 has been killing me. So I talked to my doctor, she gave me sleeping pills, not working. So yesterday Simon and I hung blackout blinds.

I did wake up at 0430, but managed to get back to sleep until about 0530. So that’s a bit of an improvement.

Simon has been getting up early as well. So we’ll see what time he gets up today and if the blinds help.

And once again I’d like to say…Flat.Walls.Of.Iron!!!!!!!

Piece of Advice for All of You DIYers Out There…

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If you are having trouble making a hole in a wall with your cordless drill, switch out the battery.

Thank you.

In other news, great craic last night. Wound up being only 6 of us, instead of the 15 I originally booked the table for. We had a great time.

Was me, our Building Manager, our regular Accounts Manager (the one who is on maternity leave), the CEO, the Operations Manager, and my old boss. After dinner CEO and Operations Manager left and me and BM and AM and old boss closed the restaurant/club we started at.

We then went to an after hours club. I left after about 10 minutes. Too loud. Too hot. And looked exactly like the warehouse club at the beginning of the first Blade movie. Ya know, where all these people are dancing to techno and then suddenly the sprinklers start spraying blood and the vampires attack and then Blade attacks? Yeah, just like that.

It was *so* good to see my old boss. I miss him tremendously, which myself and AM kept telling him over and over. Unfortunately he is really unhappy at his new job, so it wasn’t a good move at all. Totally sucks when that happens.

So danced, and drank a bit. Talked, laughed, had a fabulous time. And got home at 0145. And then got up at 0730 so I could go get my hair cut at 0900. So yeah, lunch and then back to bed!!!

The Thing About Insomnia

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is that when you have it, you get totally stoked when you wake up at 0530 instead of 0430.  A WHOLE EXTRA HOUR!!!

So next week is our Reunion Drink Up at work.  My old boss will be there, and our old events co-ordinator.  Waiting to hear about our old Director of Facilities will be joining us.  He usually buys the tequila, so he’d better be there!!  It is probably going to be a very late night, as this will be C’s first night out since having her baby in March.  Interestingly, most of the current SMT won’t be there.  Boohoo.  This makes me so sad.  Not.

My mom is safely back from her trip to Greece which was, apparently, fantastic.  Next up they are going to China.

Have a nice long weekend everyone! Enjoy the sales!

If You’re Poking Around

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in some past entries lately, you’ll see a bunch of comments from Mitchie.  That’s my oldest brother.  He thinks he’s funny.  We try not to disillusion him otherwise.  Especially since he’s really tall and an x-probation officer.  He used to like to demonstrate to my other siblings how best to cuff a suspect by using me, the youngest, as the suspect.

This included slamming me to the ground in the basement of our house (indoor/outdoor carpet over concrete OWE!!) and/or slamming me face first into the post down there that held up the ceiling.  When I complained to my mom?  “Did he draw blood? Then I’m not getting involved.”  Which was always her response when us kids fought.

There are, you see 6 of us.  We are a blended family, steps, not blood, but we treat each other like blood.  This means we fight.  Sometimes a lot.

So with my steps, I am the youngest of 7, between my dad’s remarriage and my mom’s.  And all of us are married.  So that’s 14.  And a good many of us have kids.  That’s 12.  So my immediate family, including my steps, parents, sibs, nieces/nephews? is 32 people.

My nieces/nephew range in age from Mitch’s oldest, who will be 20 in October and is at University to my sister Tracy’s twins, who are going to be 4 in June.  Oh, and I have a great nephew.  I think he’s just over 1.

So there are a lot of us.  And we live all over the US (except me, I live in the UK!).  Maybe we’ll all get together again someday.  Then again, maybe not…

My Joy in Cooking

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See what I did there? How I twisted the name of the cookbook? Damn I’m good.

Anyway, I enjoy cooking. I cook nearly every night. Simon cooks on occasion, but I cook most of the time.

I’m not some big fancy cook. I am not a gourmet. But I cook things that are good to eat.

Tonight I cooked Pasta Bake. It has chicken and lots of fresh veggies and some lovely half fat mozzarella melted on top. Oh, and pasta, obviously.

I own many cookbooks. I own basic ones, like the title twisted Joy of Cooking and not so basic ones like Silver Spoon and 1080. Tomorrow night I am making meatballs from Silver Spoon.

Since I am diabetic, I try to cook low carb. Lots of veg, some meat, a bit of pasta or bread along side.

Simon likes my cooking. Good thing, since he eats it all the time!

I have one or two ‘dinner party’ dishes. Although I don’t only cook them for dinner parties. One is chicken in red wine sauce, a recipe I figured out on my own. The other is Goulash. Both are so.darn.yummy.

So I enjoy cooking. And I enjoy buying and reading cook books. Cuz I get a lot of Joy in Cooking.

Ug, Insomnia

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I’ve been up since 4.  Could not get back to sleep.

Seeing my doctor tomorrow, maybe we need to switch my meds *again*.

So much work to do, have to go in today and do it.  At least we finished unpacking yesterday.  Thank god for small favours.

So I just have to sit on my ass and write minutes today.  For the Board, for the Management Meeting, for the Staff.  And we’re gearing up for yearly appraisals.  Yip and may I add eee.

Maybe tonight I’ll have Simon hit me over the head with a hammer so I can sleep more than 5 hours.

Changing Bad Habits

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QuitMeter Counter courtesy of www.quitmeter.com.

76 cigarettes not smoke. Wow.  Good for me.

I don’t feel too bad.  Wouldn’t say no if someone gave me a free cigarette and promised it wasn’t bad for my health.  But that’s not going to happen.

At the moment, I still miss smoking.  I miss the excuse to leave my desk several times a day.  I miss that first hit of nicotine in the morning.  I miss that last hit at night.  I just miss it.

I know, intellectually, that at this point, the need for nicotine is pyschological.  After 3 days, the studies show, the physical addiction is gone.  So now its all in my head.

Juicy Fruit is my best friend.  I am allergic to most artificial sweetners, or at least I react badly to them, so I have to chew gum with sugar.  Which is really hard to find these days!  And Juicy Fruit and coffee? Bad taste combo!

So I’ll soldier on.  Not smoking.  Simon says I haven’t been all that cranky.  Work doesn’t agree!

Tonight We Will Have Our First House Guests

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Simon’s parents have something or other to do in Belfast tomorrow, so they are staying with us tonight.  Its the first time they’ve been down since we  moved.  Even though we’ve invited them many times.

I am making goulash and noodles and crusty bread for dinner.  Maybe a salad as well.  Maybe not!

So we’ll give the place a brush up today, get the spare room all nice and pretty and await their arrival.

Our first house guests!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What Made Them Think Of It?

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What made the first person who smoked a pipe think to a. create a pipe, b. dry some tobacco or herbs and c. put those dried herbs or tobacco into the pipe and light it on fire?

How did the first person who painted on a cave wall think to a. crush some berries or use the charred end of a stick to b. use the side of the cave as a canvas.

Was the first cooked meat an accident, or did someone stand in front of the fire, stare between the meat and the fire and decide to see what happened?

I wonder if we’ll ever be able to trace (time travel? maybe?) from the first moment that man walked erect to now, to me sitting in my nice comfortable flat, using the latest technology to type this to a bunch of strangers in the world, each advance.  Each EUREKA! moment.

I, of course, realize that that will probably never happen.  But what I hope our lack of understanding of man’s early years leads to is great record keeping.  So that in 10000000 years, the people of that time will know how they got from me sitting in my nice comfortable flat, using the latest technology to type this to a bunch of strangers in the world, to them, sitting where ever they sit, doing whatever they will be doing.  They should be able to track each EUREKA! moment, even if we can’t.

The Images from the Chinese Earthquake

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are just chilling.  Whole villages destroyed in, what, 5 minutes? Less?

Having spent 7+ years in Northern California, I am no stranger to earthquakes.  Felt my first one when I was at work in the Silicon Valley.  I was on the phone with a client when my boss comes barreling into my cube “Its an earthquake!” she shouted, with something that sounded like glee.  I turned back to my call “Can I call you back? We’re having an earthquake.  Its my first one, I don’t want to miss it!”  By the time the sentence was out of my mouth, the earthquake was over.

I was also at the epicenter of one once, when I lived in Richmond California.  At the epicenter an earthquake is like this: – BANG!!!

They are scary.  Nothing stays still.  Not the ground, not the air, not the buildings, nothing.

So my thoughts go out to the people of China.  Who have lost their loved ones, their houses and their sense of security.