Long Time No Blog...

No apologies this time, life is different and rather hectic, and blogging has just fallen completely off the radar.

Having spent the last 4 years or so waiting for a baby to arrive, now that she's here (and 15 months old no less!) it's taken more than a bit of adjusting. It wasn't too bad while I was on maternity leave, because that was a whole lovely time out of time, but going back to work in April... woah. That was tough and I'm really only just settling into it.

While I have to confess I'm enjoying being back at work in some ways (I still love discovering new books and helping other people find them too), I resent work meaning that I only get an hour or so with her a day, not to mention the Saturdays I miss. Yet at the same time, on my midweek days off (like today), she still ends up going to the childminder for the morning so that I can get some house stuff done and get myself an hour just for me. 

I've had a life that I've filled up with distractions over the last few years, in order not to think about the lack of a child. Now that she's here, it's surprisingly hard to get used to a life with no time for these distractions. With not being able to spend the entire weekend on the sofa with Anthony, watching an entire tv series and eating copious quantities of Kettle Chips.

But I'm getting there. I've had to become organised and tidy (don't faint!). We've chopped the number of "must-watch" tv series right down to a mere 15hrs or so a week. I'm trying to write meal plans, and planning my evenings so that I can still play WoW, and cross-stitch, and read blogs, and play addictive ptootly iPad games (Pocket Planes! Pocket Trains! Tapped Out!), yet also not feel that I should be doing all the house-tidying that other people (grown-ups) always seem to be doing.

I think it's actually just the same old revelation, I need to be doing the things that are right for me, and right for my family (family!!!!!), rather than the things I feel I *should* be doing.

So yeah. Same old, same old going on here really.

See you...um...sometime :-)

Introducing...

...Miss Megan Caroline Holmden Leake.

 

It's a rather belated introduction I know, she arrived here nearly five weeks ago now, but it took me a while to escape from the hospital, and then it's taken a while for me to get back at the computer.

But the discovery that while she currently is refusing to sleep in her carrycot/pram (the screams before she settles break my heart too much), she will happily sleep in a sling (I'm becoming a babywearer) means that I am gradually doing more and more during the day (even if this is just one load of washing and making dinner).

I have to keep reminding myself that it's been a very long time since I've been doing things normally, what with the three months of bed rest, then going back to work (and just wanting to sleep the entire time I wasn't there), then being off with crazy blood pressure, then having a not very straightforward hospital stay and delivery.

So here's to a new normal. (I'm not promising more blogging mind you)

PAD Week 3...

...16/01/11 to 22/01/11.

The delightful...

...@kayels has a guest post on her (very quiet (but who am I to criticise)) blog by @SRT40 (or @SRT40_USA as he was for this trip).

Worth reading for a snapshot into one man's crazy seven days in SoCal.

California Dreamin

It's time for...

...a little bit of Maths.

(sorry)

Now I want an iPad. I do. I do. I do.

If I mention this to Anthony he will roll his eyes (nicely) and ask me why. I will then dribble on about blogging from the sofa and not hogging the PC for my random internet ptootlings when he really wants to go and kill some Murlocs.

This won't convince him.

So in an attempt to convince myself that I really can't afford one, I have been working out the costs in alternative currencies.

-------------------------------

The 64GB iPad with just WiFi is currently £599. If you want it with 3G too, then it goes up to £699 (plus £10 a month for 1GB of data).

So in cupcakes (from the Primrose Bakery, like I bought in London) at £1.85 a cupcake:

64GB WiFi iPad = 324 cupcakes.
64GB WiFi+3G iPad = 378 cupcakes (plus another 6 cupcakes a month)

---

In IKEA bookcases (that's a BILLY unit at £55 plus a height extender for £20)

64GB WiFi iPad = 8 bookcases (£1 needed to make it 8 rather than 7 and £74 left over)
64GB WiFi+3G iPad = 9 bookcases (£24 left over towards data costs)

---

The WiFi iPad is only £9 less than the cost of the daybed and chest of drawers (plus two sets of BILLY bookcases) that I want for our spare bedroom. Make it the 3G model and throw in another bookcase and have enough money left over for a take-away pizza (sod the data costs),

---

In £18.99 hardbacks it's 32 or 37 books, 47 or 55 if you take off my discount. 75 or 88 £7.99 paperbacks, 112 or 131 with discount!

---

Basically I could get a hell of a lot of other things I want, plus a lot of things that we actually need.

So why oh why have I still not convinced myself.

Silly brain.

Did you ever do finger painting...

...when you were a child?


Did you dip your hands in paint and do hand prints?



Did you ever do footprint painting?




Were you a messy child who used to get carried away?





I did and was and my mother has just found some photographic proof.









Look at my lovely blonde curls!

(The gentleman on the left is Andrew, he was my partner in crime)

As a citizen...

...of the United Kingdom (being over 18, not a member of the House of Lords, not in prison, and not an idiot) I went and voted today. In fact I went and voted about 10 minutes ago.

And I was amazed.

I handed my small white polling card to the man at the desk and he ticked my name off a list and then handed me a folded yellow piece of paper.

I walked to the little wooden booth and unfolded the paper. And unfolded it again. And again. And again.

There were twelve parties listed on my yellow piece of wallpaper roll. I considered each one carefully.

1) The British National Party - not a hope in hell of getting my vote, racist hate-mongering bastards.

2) The Conservative Party - hmmmm, that Dave is rather convincing but I still don't think a lot of them.

3) Christian Party-Christian Peoples Alliance - see party no.1.

4) English Democrat - Never heard of them, never even sent me a leaflet.

5) Green Party - Ahhh, heard of them, they like hugging trees and saving whales. According to the note on the paper they are "A Vote Against Racism".

6) Jury Team - People who were once on a jury? (see no.4)

7) The Labour Party - Don't even go there, and especially don't take your travel expenses out of my taxes.

8) Liberal Democrats - Well...Vince Cable's book is selling quite well.

9) Libertas - Aren't they something to do with that awful orange Kilroy-Silk man? (Nope, having checked, he set up Veritas)

10) No2EU - well yes, but do you stand for anything else? And can you spk prpr engsh?

11) Socialist Labour Party - underneath this it said "Leader - Arthur Scargill". *silence*

12) UK Independence Party - Ah yes, the OTHER party associated with the orange racist.

------------------------

So, 12 parties...who could I possibly choose?

In the end I decided to vote for Mrs Swinburne because, "We are on the brink of a new era, if only..."

and if you know what that means, not only do you know who I voted for, but you have very good taste in television comedy.

In honour of the fact...

...that when I just came on my blog the statcounter read 888, here is an 8 related meme that I aquired from Keris

Eight Things I Like:

1. Sunshine, even when I'm stuck at work, but especially when I am sitting in it.
2. Chocolate.
3. Anthony (should I have put him at No.1?)
4. Formula One.
5. Poking holes in the foil on the top of new jars of hot chocolate.
6. Kettle Chips.
7. Reading a new book in the bath.
8. Getting tweets from lovely people.

Eight things I did yesterday:

1. Played World of Warcraft.
2. OU study - wrote notes on various things including relative age/absolute age and geological time.
3. Twittered, lots.
4. Ate pate on bagels.
5. Listened to Anthony swearing at the football.
6. Watched a couple of episodes of The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency (which I've had saved on the V+ box for months now).
7. Painted my toenails pink.
8. Obsessively looked up the weather forecast for Oulton Park on Sunday.

Eight things I wish I could do:

1. Carry a pregnancy to term. (see No.1 two sections down)
2. Stop being an emotional eater.
3. Save money for longer than a couple of months.
4. Turn a cartwheel.
5. Own a horse.
6. Be debt free.
7. Drive a Bugatti Veyron.
8. Declutter.

Eight things I don't like:

1. Washing up.
2. People who think they have every right to be rude to me because I work in a shop and they work in an office.
3. Coffee.
4. Turkish Delight.
5. BNP leaflets - I've had one through the door every day for the last two weeks.
6. The week before payday.
7. People who tell me ridiculously stupid things and then say "Well it was in the Daily Mail..."
8. Lewis Hamiltwunt.

Eight things I look forward to:

1. Carrying a pregnancy to term.
2. I'M GOING TO MONZA BABY!!! *ahem*
3. Going to Milan in September (what do you mean that's the same as No.2...)
4. Spending a few days in Essex in June.
5. Weekends off. (in general)
6. Leyton Orient winning League One next season.
7. Going to Oulton Park for the BTCC this Sunday.
8. Buying a house with Anthony.

Eight TV shows I watch:

1. Ashes to Ashes.
2. Numb3rs.
3. CSI:NY
4. Charlie and Lola (I love Lola).
5. Eleventh Hour - Rufus Sewell mmmm...
6. BBC Formula One coverage - soooooooooooooooooooooooo much better than ITV.
7. Dollhouse - giving it a go anyways.
8. Buffy - yup, still.

Sorry...

...for the lack of posting.

The main thing going on in my life at the moment is work-related and I'm not really in the mood to blog about it. Since it's occupying most of my brain...blogging inspiration is vanished (pronounced vani-shed).

I shall try and kick start it by tracking down some memes that I haven't done yet, but in the meantime there are my (occasional) amusing comments on Twitter that can tide you over.
You should be able to see them
over there,
(down a bit/up a bit maybe)
<-----------
somewhere.

Today is the third...

...of three anniversaries.

Three years ago today a very nice man came to visit me and didn't go home for two days.

I have been utterly...

...neglectful in not blogging about the Chinese Grand Prix sooner. This is partly due to the fact that Anthony has been here every evening (and distracting me) and partly due to the fact that I'm having a bitch of a time at work at the moment (and unable to vent/blog about why).

Anyhoo.

So on Saturday morning I got to watch Sebastian Vettel sticking his Red Bull on pole and being rather happy about it. Then I went to work and had a rather better day than usual due to the God that is RichieFingers and the comic talents of Donal, our resident Irishman.

Sunday morning I got myself up to watch all the pre-race chatter and saw something come up on the screen that I wasn't sure if I'd seen correctly. Nothing about it popped up on Twitter, and although Martin Brundle mentioned it in his grid interview of Vettel, Sebastian didn't expand that much on it and they didn't repeat the shot.

Then after the race I found this on the red bullog.



I did see it. I wasn't imagining it.

Sebastian Vettel has a sticker reading "Kate's Dirty Sister" stuck inside his cockpit, just above the steering wheel.

But who, or what, was Kate? And why exactly was his car named after her sister? Her dirty sister...

The man himself explained later:

"Like a ship, a car should be named after a girl as it’s sexy.

My original car was called Kate. But then it got smashed at the opening race in Australia. So we called this one Kate’s Dirty Sister because it is more aggressive and faster"

So there we have it. I got smashed in Australia...and Emily has won a Grand Prix. I'm so proud of her.

Kate's Dirty Sister Google Search.

Today is the second...

...of three anniversaries.

Three years ago today a very nice man came to my house to watch a Grand Prix race, and got sucked into the World of Warcraft too.

Today is the first..

...of three anniversaries.

Three years ago today a very nice man came round and fixed my broadband.

Timed Meme...

...No. 2.

(I've answered these for the day I did it (last Wednesday) rather than guessing the future!)

1. How old will you be in five years? 35

2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today? Day off so no people just the cats.

3. How tall are you? 5'11"

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks? CENTER PARCS!!!!

5. What’s the last movie you saw? The Brothers Grimm

6. Who was the last person you called? Emily

7. Who was the last person to call you? Anthony

8. What was the last text message you received? "They said a flower couldn't signify love, the Rose managed it. They said a plant couldn't survive without water, the Cactus managed it. They said a vegetable couldn't read text messages...Well Done! I'm sooo proud of you my little cabbage!"

9. Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail? Don't think I've ever had one on this phone!

10. Do you prefer to call or text? Call

11. Have you ever had drink come out your nose? yes

12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? Other.

13. When is the last time you saw your mum? September (ridiculous I know)

14. What color are your eyes? Grey Blue

15. What time did you wake up today? 0948

16. What are you wearing right now? black skirt, lemon jumper

17. What is your favorite Christmas song? Gaudette

18. Where is your favorite place to be? with Anthony

19. Where is your least favorite place to be? Wolverhampton on a Saturday

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere? New Zealand

21. Where do you think you’ll be in 10 years? living in a messy house full of books.

22. Do you tan or burn? burn then tan

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child? I used to have a very strange dream about dinosaurs.

24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh? Daws and Donal being bitchy

25. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2

26. How big is your bed? double

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer? desktop

28. Do you sleep with or without clothes on? without

29. What color are your sheets? white

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? 2

31. What is your favourite season? summer

32. What do you like about autumn? the smell of woodsmoke

33. What do you like about winter? blue sky on frosty mornings

34. What do you like about summer? sunshine

35. What do you like about spring? the fact it's getting warmer again

36. How many countries have you lived in? 2

37. What cities/towns have you lived in? Awali/Stroud/Istead Rise/Billericay/Canterbury/Wolverhampton

38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet? bare feet

39. Are you a social person? mostly, but if people get too much I want to hide!

40. What was the last thing you ate? Mini Kievs

41. What is your favourite restaurant? Cafe Champagne

42. What is your favourite ice cream? Phish Food

43. What is your favourite dessert? Phish Food

44. What is your favourite kind of soup? Chicken

45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich? none

46. Do you like Chinese food? yes

47. Do you like coffee/tea? I like the Whittard's Fruit Tea, I hate normal tea, the smell of coffee makes me feel sick

48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average? two maybe

49. What do you drink in the morning? smoothie!

51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed? left side at home, otherwise usually the closest side to the door.

52. Do you know how to play poker? vaguely

53. Do you like to cuddle? yes

54. Have you ever been to Australia? no

55. Do you have an addictive personality? yes.

56. Do you eat out or at home more often? home

57. Do you still talk to your last ex? not the last one

58. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you? nope

59. Do you want kids? yes

60. Do you speak any other languages? little bit of French/German, few words of Arabic/Russian, trying to learn Italian for September.

61. Have you ever gotten stitches? no (can't quite work out how!)

62. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? yes

63. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool? pool

64. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seats? window

65. Who did you copy this note from? Emily

66. Whats your relationship to them? lovely sister

67. What is your favorite thing to spend money on? books

68. What is your favorite TV show? arrrgggghhh....um....My So-Called Life/Being Human/CSI:NY/Buffy

69. Can you roll your tongue? Yes

70. Who is the funniest person you know? Donal

71. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? nope (the cats would eat them)

72. What is the main ring tone on your phone? Follow Me by Uncle Kracker

73. Do you still have clothes from when you were little? nope

74. What red object is closest to you right now? tomato ketchup

75. do you use separate water to wash your hair? yup

76. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? no doors on it

77. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees? a bear

78. Do you flirt a lot? yup, bad girl

79. Whats your favorite chat up line? want a drink?

80. What is your favorite food? chocolate

81. Can you change the oil on a car? If I have help and guidance from Anthony (or a book that tells me how to tell someone else how to do it)

82. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? Nope

83. Have you ever run out of petrol/diesel? Nope

84. What is your usual bedtime? I always try for 10ish...I usually fail

85. What was the last book you read? Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

86. Do you read the newspaper? sometimes at work

87. Do you have any magazine subscriptions? Cross Stitcher

89. Do you watch soap operas? nope

90. Do you go to the cinema often? Last time was Die Hard 4.0, before that was X-Men 3...so no!

91. What radio station did you last listen to? Radio 1

92. Who is in the picture frame closest to you? Emily and Brychan

93. What was the last note you scribbled on a piece of paper? the details of a book for a customer

94. What is your favorite sports team? Leyton Orient

95. What is your favorite board game? Ludo

96. What song do you currently like? Hand In My Pocket - Alanis Morissette

97. When was the last time you attended church? Alf's dad's funeral.

Last night...

...I found myself on the horns of a dilemma. (A beast a little like a gnu).

I'd finished reading The Canon at lunchtime and really, really enjoyed it. This meant that I needed to pick myself a book to read in the very hot bath that I planned to take.

But what to read?

I looked through all 6 bookshelves (and all the piles on the floor) and managed to whittle myself down to a shortlist of 6 titles.





All of them, bar Mr Toppit, were just the right length for me to read in the bath. So therefore Mr Toppit got put aside for being too long. (It only made the shortlist cos it's my newest proof (although quite why we had the proof arrive in store at the same time as the book I do not know)).

Being aware that I'm on holiday in a week, I put aside The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency to take with me (and all the rest of the series too).

I put Marianne aside because she'll start me on a Sheri S. Tepper kick and I'm not quite in the mood for that at the moment.

Decider got kicked to the curb because I decided I wanted some fantasy rather than people blowing up racecourses.

That left a hard choice between The Valley of Secrets and The Pinhoe Egg.

Since by this time the bath had run I took them both in there and decided to read the first chapter of each and then choose.

By the time I remembered I was going to do this...I was already halfway through The Pinhoe Egg. I shall read Valley of Secrets tonight instead.

Snowy morning...

...walk to work.



The Work Walk Set

I do apologise for that shot of RichieFingers...I hope no one was eating when they looked at it. ;-p

Champagne...

...this evening I think.



WAHHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!

*ahem*

I am a happy bunny.

Blue, blue...

...blue.

January has me in its miserable grip.

Every single customer at work is rude and or abusive - the winner being the woman who called me a f**king cow when I asked her to put in her pin number while she was on the phone to a friend.

The blog I go to for happy thoughts and positive thinking, cjane, has had no end of crap being talked about it in various places due to her success (subject to confirmation) in the 2008 Weblog Awards.
This includes criticism of the fact that she has been fundraising for her sister, the fact she has been raising her sister's kids, the picture of herself as an angel in her blog header, and the fact that she has been moderating her comments over the last six months in an attempt to keep things positive and upbeat. Good grief. I worry about the world when people stop understanding jokes and sarcasm and decide that she's an evil person who only gave her nephew gum for his birthday.

Plus I'm feeling broody/empty, a currently unsolvable problem.

So tonight I have come home and dug out a song guaranteed to make me cry my eyes out.



Then I put on the song with the longest intro in the world (lyrics start at 3:24)



Then Anthony walked in the front door, I put on a song from my 150for30 play list and the world got brighter.



(Forgot today was Thursday, that goes a long way towards explaining me ranting!)

Hang on a minute...

...where did 2008 go in such a hurry?

Last year went by in the blink of an eye. Admittedly the kind of blink where you are starting to doze off and then have a horrible thought/dream and come awake with a jolt and a shudder - but a blink nonetheless.

So what exactly did I DO last year?

January - I ate Creme Eggs, and then tried to diet (fail). Went to see Orient lose at Forest (which won't happen again this year as Forest got promoted). I posted pictures of unfinished cross-stitch projects (mostly still unfinished) and wanted not to be drinking on my birthday (fail again, but nearly made it...next time...)

February - I was flaky and stressed. Anthony surprised me on Valentine's Day. Rich D called Gavin a butt plug.

March - I posted 18 things that I had done in the 18 day gap between posts, first six, then twelve. I rocketed my blog posts total by getting up at silly o'clock to watch the rather destructive Australian Grand Prix. I spent a nice week at Center Parcs with my family and came home to Michelle's fabulous news.

April - I actually went out drinking twice! (and Jo, who's leaving do it was, came back to work for us about a month later too. It's her 30th birthday today in fact - HAPPY BIRTHDAY JO!). I was feeling very kick-ass at one point, (as happens at some point every year in fact, I'm reading Four to Score at the moment). I also watched all the LOTR films again. (Anthony turned 34 as well that month, but didn't get blogged about. Poor darling).

May - I got a stupid eye infection, I felt bookish and I tried to work out my own personal decorating style. I also felt crafty and very slightly girly.

June - I showed off my new shoes, and drooled over the new Diana Wynne Jones book. I discovered Charlie Fletcher and came up with my London trip plan.

July - I showed off my girly side in my posh frock, ranted about the Hamiltwunt and relocated to here. Then I ranted about the hideous travesty that is The Dark Is Rising film, got badly sunburnt legs at the BTCC race at Oulton Park and confused myself completely with my gas and electric meters.

August - I had a week off and did quite a bit cross-stitch, some of it on a rainy Saturday. I stayed up late/early to watch the Olympic Cross Country, and then listened to some good music on my first day back to work. My London plans got an extra boost with the publication of Silvertongue, and once again my gas and electric meters were mean to me.

September - I came back from my lovely London trip (which never actually got blogged about) and was sucked into the world of the widget. This meant that comments on my posts rocketed, so I promptly caught the evil lurgy and was unable to post about anything other than being sick on the Hamiltwunt/cheering at Vettel and soup. I had a better day than I expected, and Anthony proved yet again that he is actually The Stig.

October - I did some relaxing, some snuggling, and had a good week. I boosted my post count again by getting up for the Japanese GP, was geeky over the new WoW patch and couldn't believe I'd been with Anthony for two and a half years. After this my blogging got sketchy due to not being able to blog about the biggest thing in my life, but I did manage to do this meme from Michelle.

November - For most of this month I was failing to bleed or I had (what I told you guys was) the lurgy (but was really morning sickness). Richie Fingers made me sing, and the Hamiltwunt made me laugh (and we still have about 80 copies left).

December - I shared my bad news, and tried very hard to think of good things. I lost my hair, had a good Christmas and scared all my readers away by sharing a very long list of songs!

Looking at this list I see I did actually do quite a lot in that very fast year. I know I learnt a lot about myself, and made some lovely new blogging friends.

Most folks I know had extremely mixed fortunes in 2008 so I hope that all of us have a much, much better 2009. I also hope I don't get too sunburnt at Monza (although judging by last years race I'll get waterlogged instead).

Happy New Year Folks. May it be bright and shiny and full of lovely lovely stuff like published books (for you and you and you too!), and new babies, and fresh starts and new studies!

And all sorts of other lovely things that you want and I don't know about/have forgotten about.

Blood...

...I still didn't have enough of it yesterday.



The doc went for my right wrist first and managed to fill four sample tubes with what he got. Then it was "a bit of blind poking about" in order to find the nice vein in my left elbow that the nurse had found before. It turned up first try and provided enough blood to fill the other nine sample tubes. Unlike the nurse before, he didn't fill each tube up straight from me. Instead he had this giant syringe and then decanted it.

Anthony was ever so sympathetic...sitting there and telling me my veins were crap while showing off the fact that his aren't.

Got my revenge when the doc decided to take some from Anthony too as part of the screening process that now kicks in as that was my third strike.

The big patch on my hand is where the catheter went for my nice general anaesthetic. That one (of course) bled like a bugger when they took it out.

------

So I'm here, and I'm ok. Not great, but ok. Thank you for all of your love and best wishes, hugs back at the lot of you.

Now I'm back to the sofa to watch more curling (love that sport) and be purred at by a possessive pussycat.