Today was better.

Work was busy but bearable.
The torrential rain even went off for a while.
Out for dinner with faithful travelling companion to our favourite local Cantonese restaurant, and rather wonderful it was too.
I'm off to put some tunes on my iPod now and then watch a bit of "Wallander" before bedtime.

Nighty night. :)

Purple boots!!!

I might have mentioned before on this or another one of my blogs, that my favourite colour is purple. Which is quite fortunate this year as many of the shops are full of various purple items this late summer/autumn season (my favourite time of year for clothes, actually). I'm now building up my purple wardrobe and the latest addition today is a rather fab pair of purple boots which I bought during my lunch break.

They might just go nice with those skinny jeans which I bought the other week. Yes, skinny jeans (!) I may just be having a midlife crisis as I'm more a bootcut kind of girl, but having lost quite a bit of weight over the last few months I thought I'd reward myself with something I'd never even have considered before. The only problem being that I'm not quite at the stage where they're fitting comfortably, but it's heading in the right direction.

Seagull-sized butterflies

So tomorrow morning is the first of my six presentations to a training group. This is a little follow up to the training course which I wrote and ran back in April, so now I have to do this little speech about the training course, on six occasions to different training groups between now and the end of November.

It shouldn't be too bad now I've finally written a little script for the thing. I've still got butterflies (the size of seagulls ha ha) in my stomach, which isn't helped by the fact that I have an upset stomach tonight anyway :( Still I'm feeling much better than I was during the last couple of weeks, and am now getting over the quadruple-whammy of chronic fatigue, recurring knee trouble, a mild depression and that old favourite "circumstances beyond my control".

Still haven't decided when to bring EuropeCrazy back. Maybe next week, but it's now looking more like 31.08.09 at the very latest. (And of course this week I'm too busy watching the World Athletics to be doing much else!)

Off to bed soon - need to get the beauty sleep for tomorrow :)

The other end of the week

I must say that I am very very happy to be ending the week with two less things worrying me than what I started the week with. Both of them are work-related, one is the end of a task and the other is a presentation which, it turns out, I've been needlessly worrying about for the last couple of weeks when in fact it should be short, sweet and straightforward.

And now it's the weekend :)))))))

I felt like treating myself to some Yankee Candle stuff today, so I'm home with a few different new aromas to fragrance EuropeCrazy HQ, starting with Island Spa, which has a nice lemon sherbet-y vibe going on. It's burning as I type this and there's something wonderfully fruity and summery about it, quite appropriate for such a lovely bright sunny night. We haven't had much of them for the last 3 or so weeks, so we'll enjoy it while we can :)

More to follow....

Weight-watching update: groundhog day

Stayed the same again this week, that's about the umpteenth week in a row....anyway now that I seem to have hit the dreaded 'plateau' I've decided to shift the focus from weight loss to toning up in time for my holiday in five-and-a-bit weeks' time, so it will be exercise all the way from now on. The only problem is that my recurring knee problems are back, so one must be very careful.

How do I feel today?

Unfortunately between the last blog post and this one, there was a further stint in the dark tunnel, which should probably account for the lack of posts across my three blogs over the past 7 days.

I've been in a little depression lately, most of it due to the following, some of which are beyond my control:

• work stress;
• something work-related which I have to do over the next 3/4 months which I can't get out of and am quite frankly dreading;
• the most important one - feeling frustrated that I can't do anything about my mum's continuing poor health.

It's been a really tough time over the past couple of weeks and I don't really want to go into detail about it, but I'm trying to pick myself up again. There was some good news today as I finally booked my summer holiday, and I'll have to go a post over at EuropeCrazy about that too.

I'm not really promising anything about the extent of my blogging over the next 6 weeks, as whenever I promise posts I never deliver (e.g. the Eurovision 2009 review: maybe I should post it 6 months after the event!) but I'm planning another blog-break-week starting 31.08.09 where I'll totally take a break from posting. Am going to do this every couple of months just to keep things fresh.

I'm hoping that things should pick up on EuropeCrazy during the autumn.

It's been quite a busy year at Planet Salem, but I think that little blog will be taking a break for at least a couple of months after the middle of August - as the man himself will also be taking a well-earned rest with only a couple of gigs here and there. That's unless there's more news to report?

I still enjoy blogging though, so don't worry I won't be going anywhere :)

Retail therapy

If all else fails...!

Happily, I'm coming back out of that dark tunnel which I seemed to spend most of the past week and a half travelling through. It wasn't all bad though: I had a good meal at a local Indian restaurant which I hadn't been to before, although it still hasn't dethroned my favourite local Indian restaurant; and despite a long-weekend binge and aforementioned Indian meal I managed not to gain weight this week, staying the same, which is pretty positive, considering....oh and now I'm back on stepping terms with the mini stepper and can do 700 steps in one session.

Today, in my continuing quest to try some new things this summer, faithful travelling companion and myself visited a new-ish shopping mall which we hadn't visited before. It is sales time of course, which is ok if you're a size 8. So needless to say I didn't pick up any bargains, but was lucky enough to get a very nice summery dress in H & M which has been earmarked for the forthcoming summer holiday. (Which hasn't been booked yet, are we living life on the edge or what!!).

To be continued...!

Can I have 'me' back please?

Did you ever get that feeling that someone or something had sneaked in during the night whilst you were asleep and removed your brain/ability to think straight/ability to feel good/ability to cope with everything life throws at you, etc etc?

That's been my week. I can't put my finger on it, but it's like some external forces pushing buttons, pushing and pulling me in all directions and I feel like I'm going to explode. It'll pass of course, it always does....but I've gone from this carefree happy person firing on all cylinders to someone who's even struggling to fire up the one.

During my teenage years I borrowed a book about biorhythms from my local library. It described how three cycles - physical, emotional, and intellectual, control your ability to function in these areas, and are worked out according to your date of birth. As usual, there's more info at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm

I never thought anymore about this until a couple of years back, when thanks to the internet I decided to investigate it all once more. I have the odd glance at my horoscope from time to time, but I don't really go too deeply into astrological matters (Libra btw: apparently I'm compatible with Aquarius - aha! faithful travelling companion! - and my objective is to seek fairness and balance in all things. Yep.)

However, I do check my biorhythm chart every couple of weeks and find it spookily accurate. I use http://sitefoundry.com/biorhythms/ to calculate my chart and unsurprisingly this week, all three cycles are appropriately on a downward slide, although intellectually there should be an improvement in the next week or so. Which may or may not make for better blog posts :))

The biggest swines of all

Forgive me for going all conspiracy-theorist on here tonight, but I just wondered if it was now the media's sole function not to spread news, but only to spread panic. Yes, swine flu is here, there, everywhere (as it has been for the last couple of months) and it is inevitable that it's only a matter of time before I get it, you get it, your husband/wife/children/workmates/neighbours/friends get it. We are aware of the risks, the dangers, we know how to wash our hands and we know how to 'catch it, bin it, kill it' and stop infections spreading. We know, and we try our best, but the fact remains that it's....inevitable.

The NHS in this country is trying to do something about it, even if it's probably too little and too late, but in any case it's probably fighting a losing battle as long as night after night, the TV news bulletins gleefully report the imminent rise of the pandemic. It's as if they are willing us all to catch it, for they are the biggest swines of all.

Scare tactics. It's all about putting the panic into the pandemic, and like every other drama of the last 10 years - the 'war on terror'/SARS/bird flu, I'm sure there are others too numerous to remember - 'they', whoever 'they' may be, are using scare tactics and panic to keep us in a permanent state of anxiety. To increase viewing figures, to sell newspapers, for someone to make money out of it.

I just switch off now. And then go and wash my hands. And catch it, bin it, kill it. Hopefully.

Unwinding and upgrading

Having two days off work purely for relaxation purposes...and enjoying every minute.

Currently celebrating the fact that I have successfully downloaded Internet Explorer 8. The last time I tried to upgrade my Internet Explorer, I completely lost the internet altogether :(

Also still coming to terms with the fact that it now takes me about 20 minutes from switching on the computer to getting everything to work, thanks to upgrading my anti-virus a few weeks ago.

But anyway everything is working, and that's the main thing :)

Charity begins at home?

So when did it become so hard to try and do a good deed? As part of the ongoing 'let's treat EuropeCrazy HQ to some new furniture' exercise, we decided to donate some of our old furniture away to charity. ('Old' as in years, but in very good condition nonetheless).

We live in very strange times: once upon a time charity organisations were happy to accept furniture donations. Now it seems all they want to do is sell them in a shop. Just like any other business. And if your furniture even falls slightly short of their often unreasonably high standards then they don't want it. I think that's pretty sad, as there are many people out there much less fortunate through circumstances beyond their control, but who are missing out on any donations which are being sold in a shop instead.

All's well that ends well though - we managed to find a good old fashioned charity organisation which happily accepted our donation.

Sunday, but not as we know it

Two significant things about today.


1. The normal Sunday practice of making home-made carrot and coriander soup for the Monday and Tuesday lunch was abandoned. As 'creature of habit' is my middle name, I think my workmates might all keel over in shock when I bring in a new flavour of home-made soup, i.e. butternut squash, red pepper and onion soup, adapted from a recipe on the WeightWatchers website. With copious amounts of dried chives on top. Voila!




It looks and smells rather nice I must admit, but it doesn't have to look good, it has to taste good too. Think it will though. I actually made so much of it that it will do me for three days so that should be enough time to get used to it!!

EDIT 06.07.09, 12.14 pm: Yum.........oh yes. I like it. Most tasty.

2. My chilled-out Sunday afternoon surfing was abandoned for a bout of extreme de-cluttering in my bedroom, which resembled less of a bedroom and more of a home for unwanted plastic bags full of magazines, brochures and other paper-type things etc which I should really have binned many moons ago. I also got rid of a few cassette tapes, from the pre-download days when you taped the top 40 off the radio (!) anyway no point in keeping them as they've all been transferred to CD. It was a very therapeutic exercise, although in these days of fortnightly rubbish collections you now have to pace your de-cluttering from one fortnight to another, as there's still a week to go till the bins are emptied....

:(

Gained 1lb this week.
Well, you just can't diet in this weather can you?

Computer-free Thursday (not)

As part of my get-my-life-in-order time management strategy (ha ha) I had decided during my blog-break that I'd take one night a week out of any kind of contact with a computer - no internet/email/typing/scanning...nothing at all. So I came up with computer-free Thursday and it's been working for the last couple of weeks. But obviously not tonight.

I need something to take my mind off this heat, I guess....thankfully it won't be high-20s tomorrow, the forecast is for good old rain and 20 degrees.

I hate the rain but this time I think I might just run outside and dance in it :))))

Good heat gone bad

Wasn't June amazing? It's always one of my favourite months of the year, and this time it finally delivered on the good weather front for the first time in years.

However there's a point when this hot weather crosses the line, and we reached that point today when even the people who love the heat were suffering. Today, 1st July was the day when the good heat went bad.

EDIT 02.07.09: It's not any better today. Already on the verge of passing out. Today temperatures of 29 degrees are forecast :(

Va va voom regained.

It just struck me the other week that I'd been blogging for two years and three months and during that time I never really had a break from my favourite hobby, apart from when I went away on holiday, so I thought it would be a good idea to take a little break away from the blogs for a couple of weeks.


I'd recommend that this is a very good idea to do this from time to time so I'll probably do it again in a couple of months.

Anyway I'm feeling more upbeat now after some personal difficulties - all sorted out now - and another of those bouts of fatigue which I get from time to time, again I'm getting over this and feeling better.

And then this week I found out that Salem will be playing in Gothenburg again next March, and my 'hyper-levels' just shot through the roof!! I'm determined to get over there to see him play again, of course it will all depend on flight availability/ticket availability/whether I can get time off/whether faithful travelling companion can get time off, blah blah blah.

Here we go again..!!!

I might as well face it, I'm addicted to hoops

Being the crispaholic that I am, this is always a stumbling block to my never-ending attempts to shed a few pounds. Due to some post-holiday personal traumas and other stuff, I gained 4 lbs in 4 weeks, and got very very down about it.

During my blog-break of the last two weeks I've actually managed to lose 2 lbs in 2 weeks, which may not sound like much but it's a superhuman effort for moi. Helped along by the fact that I've discovered a secret weapon which has now become my new obsession....

...Weight Watchers Salt and Vinegar Mini Hoops! 1 point per bag! Now I don't even like Hula Hoops, but these are very addictive indeed.

Here we go again.

So I've got my va-va-voom back, admittedly still a reduced version of it, but anyway it's summer and I'm loving these long, light nights. But there is just one thing I have to do.

Yes it's weight-watching time again. I've decided to return to the glory days of the "Gothenburg Plan" during which I lost half a stone in twelve weeks and felt wonderful. Of course I'm not going to Gothenburg (not for the foreseeable future anyway, sadly) but I will be heading somewhere (current destination unknown) with faithful travelling companion in September so I'll need to get into shape. For there has been post-Dusseldorf weight gain, coupled with a period of laziness and not much exercise, and now something must be done about it.

So here we go again....it's not going to be easy but I've got my determination back so here goes!

Updates to follow...here, every Friday, as usual.

Now I'm off to have a low-fat supper!!

Lost: va-va-voom

If you see it and you find it can you please return it to me?

I've been feeling a little down over the last few days, for some inexplicable reason. I haven't felt like that for a while as I've been on this incredible high for months but inevitably it had to come to an end. A few things over the last 4 weeks really messed me up emotionally, these are now sorted but it's still taken its toll nonetheless (oh the drama!). Also my mum hasn't been too well lately and I just want her to feel better again.

And I've gained weight, which always gets me down. And it's so hot that I can't exercise (which is usually a big factor in my losing weight). Not complaining about the good weather but a couple of degrees lower would have been nicer. Oh it's to end anyway, after tomorrow, so I will then go back to complaining about the weather being rubbish.

But anyway it's June, which I always love, it's one of my favourite months of the year, so I'm going to snap out of these blues very quickly!!

Summer (continued)

Day 3 of the heatwave, 24 degrees, dry, sunny, hot (getting unbearably hot now indoors at EuropeCrazy HQ, trying not to complain as these are very rare occasions and they don't last).

I don't 'do' sunbathing, but something very strange happened yesterday as I decided 'if you can't beat them, join them' and so I took my chair outside, applied and re-applied the factor 35 sun cream. On with the iPod and away we go. It didn't last. I got bored. But yay for the factor 35 as I still resemble a milk bottle. But you know what? I don't care. I'd rather be a milk bottle than a 'sun protection? no thanks' lobster anyday, and believe me I saw plenty of them in town today :)

I still don't 'do' sunbathing and don't really understand the appeal of it. When I go on holiday I can't sit still for any length of time, so to lie on a sun lounger for me would be the definition of boredom, not to mention a very dangerous pursuit with my fair skin...

(But I'm a big believer in each to their own, so if sunbathing is your 'bag' then I'm ok with that, but as long as you remember to stay safe and put on lots of high factor sun cream!)

Summer!

OK I'm exaggerating as usual but today summer arrived, or at least the one day of it that we usually get.

And do you know what? We're going to get two days of it, as it's to be nice tomorrow too!!

Shades, cropped jeans and gladiator sandals at the ready...:D

I know why they call it 'breaking in a pair of shoes'

The 'breaking' bit refers to the effect on your feet. Not literally (thank goodness) but the whole 'Achilles Heel' thing is so true for me, as every new pair of shoes results in a gaping, bleeding big circle at the back of each ankle :(

My poor little overworked feet have taken a lot over the years. Because I walk to and from work, not to mention everywhere else, I wear out a lot of soles and have to replace my shoes rather a lot, which means the 'breaking in' ritual is a frequent, and painful, thing.

And just as the shoes are getting comfortable....the soles wear out! Ha!

We're not allowed to wear trainers in the office, so can I wear slippers to work tomorrow? Pretty please?

3.15 pm

Mum: "Can I see the telly?"

Me: "Yes...that's it over there".

Cue both of us collapsing into spontaneous hysterical giggling fit.

"Can I get a relaunch?"

A little Avid Merrion moment there, it's enough to make you burst into a chorus of "Craaaaaig David!"

But I digress.

I'm having a break from busy-busy-home-improvementy times because it's the bank holiday weekend, there's been plenty of work of late so now it's time for rest and play. Which means it's back to blogging from tonight onwards! Yay!!!

The big news is that the never-ending search for a new sofa and two chairs for the EuropeCrazy living room finally ended yesterday, and it should be here in 6 weeks or so :)

"Extreme Time Management"

Sounds like a reality-game-show for Channel Five doesn't it - in which a group of people are cast into a jungle or an island somewhere and have to do all these jobs in a very limited time!!

Anyway since I came back from Dusseldorf I've gone time-management mad and thrown myself into all the jobs-that-should-have-been-done-months-ago. They are by no means all done, but the important stuff is. And (big fanfare) finally got the wallpapering done in the living room the other day. Not blowing my trumpet or anything but I'm very happy with it.

The May bank holiday weekend is approaching and it too is filled with work, rest and play:

Friday - Next instalment of our hunt for a new three-piece suite / hanging out with faithful travelling companion;

Saturday - Lunch, shopping, hanging out with faithful travelling companion;

Sunday - Chilling out....and it's blogging time again - YAY!!!!!! ....and as I said over at EuropeCrazy it's finally getting near normal service again. Fingers crossed.

Monday - Ditto Sunday.

Sounds like a plan :)

What I haven't had time for lately is dieting/exercising - all that starts again next week too !!

Just because I'm losing, doesn't mean I'm lost

Got Coldplay on the iPod tonight (which explains that post-heading).

I don't usually try to be gender-specific on any of my blogs but this is unashamedly a female-and-fortysomething post, and a very personal one.

Doing a lot of "coming to terms with...." at the moment. Some things which weren't good are now much better (yeah, cryptic, I know), however my emotional highs and lows of the last couple of years would seem to have been a lead-up to something more inevitable when you are a woman of a certain age....

Therefore, apologies in advance for any blog-mood-swings and erratic behaviour - but hey I thought that was the norm anyway :)

When it was good....

I don't do music stuff on this blog of course, but right now this song just resonates too much...

You used to call me
Just to say I love you baby
You would always treat me like a lady
Everyone was jealous of the way
We kept keeping on feelings were so strong
Always knew that I would occupy your mind
You could always find a little more time
To show me I was number one
Put me there on my throne
Lately where’s the feeling gone

When it was good we were sitting on top of the world
When it was good no I never wanted nobody else
When it was right not like tonight we were sitting on top of the world

(It's "When It Was Good" by Flipsyde by the way)

Now this is funny...

http://toddjordan.wordpress.com/2008/03/02/10-signs-of-twitter-addiction/

Does that now make me a twit?

I joined Twitter today, on the spur of the moment.

I realise my involvement will only be half-hearted at best, but it should be a bit of a laugh anyway. Sometimes you only need 140 characters. And they call posts 'tweets' which is quite cute I guess.

Nothing will ever beat good old blogging though - that's the best.

Crash and burn

These are happy and wonderful times for me just now. It's like some kind of out of body experience where the new me is up here, orbiting around, looking down on the old me and thinking...I don't want to get back down there to the old me. When I do come back down, as I will have to, it will be as someone new. Not a total reinvention of course...just as someone with the courage to be the new me. The one up here.

The last two weeks have been fantastic. And just when I didn't think it could get any better, my minute taking training course programme was approved and accredited by departmental training HQ yesterday. I spent most of yesterday walking on air, as if I wasn't already...anyway it was fabulous timing as it was day one of the course today, and it went rather well if I might say so :)

Friendship, appreciation and respect...It's the happiest feeling in the world, and I have my online-life to thank for it, for giving me the confidence to go boldly in the real world.

I'm enjoying every minute of every day, because ,being what it is, means that crash and burn is inevitable. But in the meantime:

Life is good. Treasure it.

Job done²

A good day, all in all: Homebase had the chocolate brown wallpaper we were looking for, and I later headed out for my first grass-cutting session of the damage-limitation, sorry I mean 'gardening' season. Also I have the overwhelming urge for a topiary tub, as you do!

And I got a nice cardigan in Matalan too. :)

It wasn't quite up there with last Saturday's 'living the dream' but I guess I can't complain.

And it's only 9 days till my next holiday :)

Is it wrong to feel so good?

I haven't random-rambled since my return from Sweden so, almost one week later, here goes....

I am still on such a major (natural) high that I can't really describe it. Last weekend was the best weekend of my life. I went to Gothenburg, the sun shone constantly, our hotel was great, no flight delays, no spanners in the works, everything was perfect.

I met Salem Al Fakir - one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. He may be a musical genius, but he also happened to be such a lovely, warm, kind and generous individual - and a fantastic live performer in the concert which followed....read my review over at Planet Salem of course.

Life is pretty surreal just now. Next Tuesday and Wednesday I'm running a two-day training course at work - the first one I've done in 3 and a half years. I should be a nervous wreck, but I just keep reassuring myself that I can do it, because if I managed to talk to Salem, my absolute musical hero, for 45 minutes without tripping over my words, I should be able to speak about a part of my job which I've been doing for almost 15 years. Fingers and everything else crossed !!!

This time next week not only will it be all over, but I'll have finished up for my next foreign trip (Dusseldorf) so it will be party time once again :)

Spots. Bruises. Runny eyes. Sore throat.

...sounds like a Twitter post, but it's actually my current physical state: 4 days till I fly out to Sweden, I've been in the peak of good health for a while but you know there's a holiday coming up when you start getting spots all over your face and stupid little eye and throat infections...oh never mind, only two and a half working days this week. It's not all bad.

Good Friday.

Off work today and Monday (yay!)

As you know I've been riding on the 'life is good' bandwagon for several weeks now but this past week has been a bit trying - firstly discovering a number of unexplained bite-type marks all over my right leg, then I get a sore eye, and then the world's biggest spot decides to set up home on my face just one week before I go to Sweden.

This morning wasn't much better. Had the mother of all bad starts to the day: firstly I weighed myself (gained 1lb, not surprised as haven't been in diet-mode this week) then I accidentally spilled a glass of cola all over my duvet cover.

:(

Then the worst bit: I tripped and fell over in my bedroom, resulting in yet another knee injury - this time my left knee (my good one) which is now swollen and bruised although I can still hobble along.

:(

Went off on travels with mum to look for new three-piece suite - fruitless search.

:(

Later in the day I bashed my right knee (my bad one) against the kitchen door.

:(

Anyway...it wasn't all bad. There was some good news later which made everything so much better. (Sorry it's very personal so I can't share it here) Anyway....life is still good.

(And I'm going to Sweden next Friday, if I can stop falling over between now and then).

That time again.

Yes it's the official opening of the EuropeCrazy damage-limitation - I mean gardening - season.

Tonight I cut down some overhanging tree branches and pruned some overgrown rose bushes and ...I'd forgotten how therapeutic it all was, whilst repeating over and over again in my mind - "you're not gonna beat me this year/you're not gonna beat me this year..."

I say it every year, but this year I am going to make some kind of effort. And when I'm going through that whole post-Gothenburg-and-Dusseldorf-void, then I'll know what I need to do.

Oh, and the daffodils are in full bloom now...

It's ok...

...my spectacles have now turned up in the last place I looked for them.

Current mood: relief.

Where did I leave my glasses?

Currently in a panic. I have misplaced my glasses at home and can't find them anywhere. I don't need them for close-up/computer/reading but I'm so short sighted you wouldn't believe it....they are somewhere in this house but - where????

Current mood: anxious/agitated.

A year of Sitemeter.

A year ago today I got Sitemeter, and things have never been the same since.

Purely because I realised very quickly that a) more than 4 or 5 people were reading my blog(s); and b) with blogging you reach a truly worldwide audience.

So, at the end of Sitemeter Year 1, I give you my visitor numbers.

EuropeCrazy: 30606.

Planet Salem: 10400.

Random Ramblings: 396.

Thanks to each and every one of you who's ever accidentally stumbled across, or deliberately made a point of visiting, any of the above - much, much appreciated, I love having you all to visit - it goes without saying.

Now, off to Sitemeter for just one more check...!

Yep....

.....neigh chance.

Neigh chance.

I'm just about to watch the Grand National, which is an annual ritual at EuropeCrazy HQ - the only time we're ever remotely interested in horse racing.

I've drawn Himalayan Trail in the office sweep (!) and have also chosen Brooklyn Brownie, only because Salem Al Fakir's "Brooklyn Sun" is my favourite song just now :)

Mum's chosen Darkness which apparently is Andrew Lloyd Webber's horse, cue chorus of "It's my horse, it's my horse" from mum :))) and also Black Apalachi, she doesn't have any reason for this.

Apart from the office-sweep one there is no money riding on this, it's just a bit of fun :))))

British Summer Time

Just realised that I hadn't random-rambled for a while. Life is still good, and I've got two holidays coming up within the next four to five weeks so to say that I am hyper and excitable is an understatement.

Last weekend the clocks went forward, signalling light nights and the beginning of British Summer Time (ha ha) anyway the last two days have brought blue skies and non-freezing weather. Hooray!!!! (while it lasts)

Weight-watching update: that Shayne Ward moment

As the mighty Shayne once sang "...that's my goal".

Well anyone familiar with the workings of Weight Watchers will know about the 10% goal (losing 10% of your body weight) and it should usually not take too long to get there.

Only in my case it's taken three years (with several near-misses).

But I've done it.

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's Your Flava?

Regular readers of this ol' blog will be well aware that I'm a crispaholic, so I couldn't resist Walkers' latest publicity stunt where they invited the great British public to invent some new flavours, and then get the same great British public to vote for their favourite and the winner will become the new Walkers flavour.

OK so far so good.

Till I actually tasted the flavours.

Duck and Hoisin Sauce - yuck. I took about 3 out of the packet and couldn't stand it any longer. And anyone who knows me will know that once I start a packet of crisps I finish it.

Fish and Chips - yuck. A kind of salt and vinegar meets prawn cocktail combination, only worse.

Builders Breakfast - bland, with a disturbing hint of egg. Enough said.

Onion Bhaji - this was actually ok, as it did what it said on the packet. Nice and onion-ey.

Cajun Squirrel - reassured by the fact that "no squirrels were harmed in the making of these crisps" I actually found them to be the most bearable of the lot.

Chilli and Chocolate - a bizarre combination, but strangely it seemed to work although those little hints of cocoa-powder did get on my nerves after a while.

Verdict: is this the best they could do?? I wouldn't particularly want to meet up with any of this lot again, but I suppose if I was forced to then I'd have to choose Cajun Squirrel. (A name change would be nice though).

Another four hours later...

Ladies and gentlemen, after yet another four hours tonight...

EuropeCrazy HQ finally has wireless broadband!!! We have a "network"!

(However I will need extra hair dye for all the grey hairs which this whole experience has given me, and trauma counselling to deal with night after night of frustration trying to get the thing installed).

Weight-watching update.

Even by my reasonably cheerful standards I'm feeling ultra-hyper and bubbly at the minute, and probably getting on some people's nerves as a result.

I'm happy. Life is good. And I'm making the most of it while it lasts - touch wood. (Hey that rhymed!)

Anyway Friday brought more good news, I've lost another pound this week :) I suppose the extra exercising and sensible eating is beginning to work at last?

Socks and the City

Now for a completely random post, cause that's what this ol' blog is about after all.

Whatever happened to good socks? And no, that's not a euphemism for anything else. Because I mean SOCKS. Those things you put on your feet.

Many moons ago you could buy socks and they could possibly outlive you, now you're lucky to get a few weeks out of them.

Rant over :)

I got those wireless broadband blues :(

Three hours last night, almost another three hours tonight and still no joy.

I almost made it only for the whole thing to crash on me again. Wireless adaptor is not compatible with Jurassic computer and all-singing all-dancing wireless box thingy.

So it's going back to the shop tomorrow, and I'll get a better one at the weekend.

You know me by now, where there's a will there's a way. As usual there's lots of will but in this instance not much way :(

So I'm sticking with the wire-y broadband, at least till Sunday when I will once again attempt the impossible!!!!!

Three hours.

Yes, it's taken me three hours to set up my wireless broadband...and still nothing.

As my computer is of the pre-wi-fi Jurassic variety, I have been trying to install a wireless adaptor so that this will speak to my wireless box and everyone will live happily ever after in 8 meg unlimited surfing harmony.

Uh-uh.

Wireless adaptor and Jurassic computer have not seen eye-to-eye for past three hours so am officially on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Have now given up and gone back to the glory days of trailing wires across the floor (eyes already glazing over nostalgically).

Will try again tomorrow.

AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even broader-band

Within the next two weeks I should have wireless broadband, which should improve the health and safety rating no end at EuropeCrazy HQ as there will be no trailing wires to trip/somersault over any more :)

Weight-watching update.

Weight: same as last week - I'm not complaining though.

Measurements: lost two and a half inches from various places!

Life is (still) good :))))))

What's in a name?

This gave me a good laugh this morning http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7909561.stm - although it's probably not so funny for the people who have to go through life with those names :)

An uneventful week, but I've still got that happy feeling :)

Apologies for lack of posts, I just haven't really had much inspiration to blog, although I'm still walking around on air and have reached an almost unbearable level of hyper-ness to the annoyance of everyone around me :)))) Of course reality eventually bites as the MasterCard bill dropped through the letterbox today!

Two things this week:

1) Spring is, um, springing, as a group of daffodil shoots are beginning to peek out of a little area at the side of my house.

2) Fitness levels rising and I am now at peace with the mini-stepper. On the down side, I was out at my favourite local Cantonese eatery last night - bad girl! I am not expecting any weight loss this week but am getting measured so fingers crossed.

Today I am officially the happiest person alive.

1. Eight weeks from today I am going to Sweden (more details at EuropeCrazy and Planet Salem as if you need ask)

2. I've lost 2lbs this week - in spite of a big dinner, a big lunch and a back injury which stopped me exercising after Tuesday.

Life is good :)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

"Ruinair" by Paul Kilduff

When my interest in blogging took off a couple of years ago, the one thing which seemed to suffer was my interest in reading. I've got some well-stocked bookshelves with lots of great books - almost exclusively in the humorous travel writing genre which Bill Bryson pioneered back in the day - but most of them are still begging to be read.

On the first of my two trips to Dublin last year, I spotted "Ruinair" by Irish writer Paul Kilduff, which is yet another one of those funny travel-related books, this time about the writer's experiences of travelling on a certain well-known airline. I didn't buy it at the time and looked for it during my second trip but couldn't find it.

It's now been published in the UK though and faithful travelling companion came to the rescue and bought it for me as part of my Valentine's Day presents. (Awww) anyway I started reading it the other night - great book, full of cheeky sarcastic wit and if you've ever flown on that airline you'll nod your head in agreement, that's when you're not laughing out loud.

So as part of my 2009 campaign for a healthy body and healthy mind - which involves 'lights out' at midnight during the week (yep. boring), I'm heading off now to read another chapter before bedtime.

No pain, no gain

This blog seems to have turned into the diary of my dieting rollercoaster.

After a week of three-big-dinners-and-a-1lb-gain, the hard work restarted, this time with added water drinking and throwing myself back into aerobics and bending and toning and trying to knock my body into some kind of shape. I don't know what kind of shape, but some kind.....!

I've bust my knee, so I can't pound the mini-stepper any more, and my enthusiastic waist-moulding side-bending has now resulted in two rather painful injuries and a body which is now screaming at me, begging to make it stop.

A night off tomorrow, I think.

The one thing I don't have a problem with is walking to and from work, I have to climb up a steep hill in the morning but it's a pleasure going downhill. Need to choose my walking-music more carefully though and not leave me at the mercy of iPod on shuffle. DO NOT walk down a hill, or up a hill for that matter, to "Rusty Halo" by The Script, which now rivals Girls Aloud's "Something Kinda Oooh" as the world's fastest walking-song.

The best? "Maneater" by Nelly Furtado takes some beating. Perfect beats per minute to walk to.

So between a body in pain, excessive PMT, work stress and still no news about my Gothenburg concert tickets, it was not the best of days.

However I'm glad to say, touch wood, that I don't really let these things get me down for too long. Tomorrow will be a better day, I know it will. :))

Happy days.

Took faithful travelling companion out tonight for dinner to our favourite local Indian restaurant to celebrate his birthday earlier this week. Very enjoyable night for both of us!

Like I said before, it's not the best week of the year to diet :))

Oops (Part 2)

Gained 1lb this week :(

The diet revival: week 3

After my good result two weeks ago, I was hit with an outbreak of that fatigue-thing (which I get from time to time) last week, affecting my dieting/exercise regime last week.

Happily it passed and this week I'm back on form, getting lots of exercise...all good so far.

But being me, there is a "but" coming...

It's one of the most challenging weeks of the year - the week-long celebration of faithful travelling companion's birthday meant a) a day off work for me today, which involved a nice big lunch, and b) the birthday dinner this Friday. Me not expecting any weight loss this week ha ha :)))

I'll work double-hard next week, promise.

Mid-life crisis / I think you call that karma

It was faithful travelling companion's birthday yesterday and he would appear to be hurtling towards a mid-life crisis, not helped by my jibes that he's getting old and it's a few months to go till I reach his age...

And then tonight whilst looking in the mirror I spotted....grey eyebrow hairs.
I think you call that karma or something.

(Although I may just be having a little crisis of my own, judging by the amount of Boots Protect and Perfect products in my make-up bag these days :))

You call that snow?

A few ickle snowflakes, and it's a national emergency. Britain grinds to a halt again.

And then people wonder why the British are obsessed with the weather? As I said in a previous post, there's no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.

Weight-watching update.

Two pounds off this week!!!!!

Yay!!!!

Day 3 in the big diet house

Yay!!

I'm winning my war with the step machine!
I'm making zero-point carrot & coriander soup!!
I'm drinking water!!
No crisps tonight!!
Weighing my food!!

Boring or what?

But it won't be long till the weekend, then normal service will be resumed: well at least for a couple of days and nights ;)

I predict a diet (here we go again zzzzz)

So I started all over again yesterday (yet again) and I'm giving myself a 12 week plan to get my body into shape which will be in nice time for my spring holiday at the beginning of May.

I'm calling this my "Elvis Presley diet" because....'it's now or never' ;)

Day two is over. Well at least the first two days have been ok, although getting re-acquainted with the mini-stepper is a challenge to say the least!!!

Hello Mr President

I got home from work just in time to watch Mr Obama being sworn in at his inauguration tonight. I thought his speech was quite inspirational, bringing a message of strength and defiance but also of equality, peace, freedom and renewal for his country.

I wish him well.

It's beginning to look a lot like...winter.

So the snow came today, golfball-sized snowflakes to be precise.

It's quite reassuring when this happens: getting snow when you should be getting snow. Seasonal weather. I'd rather have this than the wind and rain storms, which are really annoying. For once I'd like winter to be winter, spring to be spring, summer to be summer...you get the picture.

Things are definitely looking up as the bathroom saga is (fingers crossed) almost over, and we have a rather lovely new bathroom at EuropeCrazy HQ to enjoy.

The dieting, however, is another story. My best laid plans have collapsed in a heap, buried under a mountain of chocolate biscuits, sweets, crisps and an addiction to McCain Salt & Black Pepper potato wedges.

I'll start again next week :)))

Time off in loo

Apologies for the atrocious pun !! :-)))

So the bathroom replacement is well underway, with most of EuropeCrazy HQ resembling a building site. Nevertheless I've spent a couple of happy days off work, sitting in the living room watching my Hollyoaks backlog and working my way through my Gilmore Girls boxed sets. Also listened to Radio 1 today for a change, instead of my local radio station. What a nice change too! Didn't hear "Hallelujah" once. Now that is indeed an achievement.

Happily, my (unexplained) back injury is easing off and my (equally unexplained) tummy bug is also now gone, so I'm on the mend at last and ready to dip my toe into the blogging waters once more.

I am also due a long-awaited reunion tomorrow with faithful travelling companion, who's had his own troubles over the past week with a very nasty eye infection.

And to top it all, I found out tonight that Salem Al Fakir's new album is out on 25 March.

Life is good :))))))))))

Carnage and chaos

Taking a bit of a break from the old blogging thing this week as there will be a lot of work going on at home over the next few days. New bathroom is being fitted so expect carnage and chaos but it will all be worth it!

Also I haven't been feeling too well in the last few days - back pain/upset stomach, oh well at least I'm off work for the next three days so that's one less thing to worry about!

What do you want for tea? I want crisps!

So it's Friday night and here I am at EuropeCrazy HQ, minus faithful travelling companion. :(

Tonight's date has been called off due to FTC's nasty bout of conjunctivitis, poor thing. I feel a spot of gratuitous blogging coming on.

I need to share something with you. I am....a crispaholic. Yes, I love potato crisps (or for my North American readers, potato chips) and unfortunately it is an addiction that I just can't cure, and don't particularly want to. Which also goes a long way to explaining my "battle of the bulge" and my WeightWatchers Online membership which has gone on a little bit longer than originally planned..!

So it was with great joy that I discovered this week that Golden Wonder Golden Lights are back. In Poundland. Yay and rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. In these credit-crunching days you've got to grab every bargain you can. At the end of the day, if you are going to eat crisps you might as well be sensible and choose the low-calorie low-fat option, and these fit the bill. Specially the Salt & Vinegar ones, yum. Technically, they are not crisps as we know it, but a more than acceptable substitute for Discos.

I miss Walkers Potato Heads though.

2009: good to go!

I managed to end 2008 on a high - with my now-traditional Cantonese meal with faithful travelling companion, followed by a visit to a local bar. A change of scenery here, as the bar we usually go to has been (presumably) credit-crunched out of existence so it was off to Wetherspoons for Kopparbergs pear cider. Even my drinking habits are Swedish these days although the Kopparbergs is cheaper in Wetherspoons than in Sverige :)))

(NB: Last time I mentioned drinking over at EuropeCrazy, that particular post ended up on some blog-aggregator about alcohol/excessive drinking: I subsequently went ballistic and asked them to remove the post from their listings. Presumably this one will go the same way but I would just like to say that I never drink to excess, only in moderation. Being drunk is soooooo overrated, and hangovers are not a good thing)

Anyway...back home to bring in 2009 with mum, who unfortunately isn't too well at the moment, but we did have a very nice start to the new year and 1st January was very relaxing and most enjoyable for certain reasons: see Planet Salem for more info!!

Today I was off to the big city with faithful travelling companion for lunch and sales-shopping. There is one inevitable thing about sales-shopping: a) it will be a total disappointment, and b) they'll never have it in your size anyway. At least Boots had all their gift sets at half-price so I took advantage. Between these and the sets I received for Christmas, I now have enough bath essence/shower gel/body lotion to see me through 2009 and beyond!!

I've only gained one pound over the festive season, which is cause for great celebration. Needless to say I've renewed my WeightWatchers Online subscription.....this is the year that I finally reach my target weight, blah blah blah. You set your own target weight there, and I am only 9lbs off it. 9 measly pounds. I will put my mind to it. Between the mini-stepper, the increased water consumption and getting the "Pump It Up" DVD out of cold storage, I can do it. No-one else can do it for me: I owe it to myself to get fit, lose weight, and be healthy.

All that being said, I don't believe in making New Year resolutions as they're only made to be broken!! So I'll just mention a few things which are more likely to happen in 2009...

1. Go on holiday. At the moment, Munich is favourite for spring-break in May, but our September 2009 destination is just a big blank page at the moment!!

2. Better blog-management. I've got three blogs all demanding my attention, and hopefully I'll be able to do them all justice this year.

3. Buy more CDs. 2008 was generally very poor for music releases and I didn't purchase too many CDs....but 2009 should be better. There are at least four Swedish male solo singers whose CDs will inevitably find their way into my collection. And I've got a new hi-fi to play them on, so....bring it on!!

2008: good riddance.

I was going to write a little looking-back on 2008 post, however I decided I want to take the chance here to pay tribute to my mum, who has gone through so much this year, and who is an inspiration to me every day of my life.

It was a chain of events which began in July with my mum going to hospital for a minor operation, she then suffered a heart attack. Two weeks later she needed another (allegedly minor) medical procedure which caused a blood clot, which required an emergency operation to remove it.

There have been other health setbacks for her since then: but despite these she is an amazing, strong and courageous woman who will not be beaten. She has never lost her sense of humour. She is thankful that she has been given a second chance: I hope that 2009 is a happy and healthy year for her. Her experience made me realise that you shouldn't get stressed out by the things that don't matter.

2008 wasn't all bad, there were personally some good things - holidays, weight loss, recognition for Planet Salem; but it would be fair to say that the personal bad stuff outweighed the good. And don't even start me on the credit crunch, the world recession and high street stores going bust one by one. And don't even start me on the broken boiler....yes that's right folks, once again this useless substandard (insert swear word of choice) has broken down meaning we've had no heating or hot water for almost 24 hours, and we don't know if anyone will be out to fix it tonight. EDIT: we had about 72 hours without heating or hot water, but thankfully it's been repaired again (well, till the next time)

This will probably be my last Random Ramblings post of 2008: sorry to end on such a downer, but that's the kind of year it's been. Still...new year, new start...Things can only get better!!!!

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009 everyone. X

Christmas = :))))

It was rather fabulous.

Spending Christmas with my loved ones: I can't ask for anything more.
And Santa was very good to me too :)))))

It's been absolutely wonderful. And as if that's not enough, we also had a great result at the Matalan sale today!!!

I'm just going to enjoy chillling out tomorrow before returning to work on Monday.

The boys of the NYPD choir still singing 'Galway Bay'...

...and the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day!


Yes it's nearly here...I've been off work for the past three days but to be honest it hasn't really felt like a holiday as I've been soooo busy.


Monday: haircut and food shopping.



Tuesday: buy new hi-fi, then have to do major surgery on my electronic-gadget-overloaded bedroom to find a space for it. Very nice though...and sounding great. Manages to play all my CDs and it has an iPod dock. Mmmm....nice.


Wednesday: a lie-in then housework and getting ready for Santa's visit. Santa texted me on his way home from work today!! He'll be coming over in a couple of hours. Whoopeeee!


I'm so excited - I really love Christmas Eve.


Anyway I'm off now to raid our considerable supply of sweets and chocolate biscuits and may be back on here tomorrow night, if not I'll definitely be back on Boxing Day.

Have a fab Christmas everyone!!

Back again...

Finished work on Friday but then it was into a very hectic weekend involving pantomime, wrapping Christmas presents and going out for pre-Christmas dinner to my favourite local Indian restaurant.

Today: I decided to treat myself to a trip to the hairdresser's, where they managed to transform my fringe from forlorn to fabulous, and cut enough layers into my currently shoulder-length hair to keep me going until...my next visit, whenever that may be!!

Next stop - Tesco, for the pre-Christmas food shopping. Trying not to look too smug that we only needed to buy the basics, unlike some who needed not one trolley but two.

Tomorrow it's all go once again as I head out to buy my new micro hi-fi, as my current, trusty old "music centre" can't cope with the CDs I'm feeding it anymore. Or is it trying to tell me something lol :)))

Burnout!

As I said over at EuropeCrazy I'm taking a few days out of blog-posting (although I'll still be visiting all my blog-friends and leaving the odd comment or two). Normal (!) service will be resumed on Monday 22nd.

Pre-Christmas preparations + work stress + totally unrelated events = burnout!!

This is probably one of the most useless things ever, a blog post to announce a break from blog posts :O

Anyway this is my last day at work and I'll now be on holiday till the 29th - YAY!!!!!

Mother of three (blogs) / Three people in this marriage

Just taking stock of my status as mother of three blogs: there is the lively toddler just about to hit the 'terrible twos' in March; there is the middle child who has recently become more demanding over recent weeks and will probably require all my attention for part of next year; and there is the baby, who sleeps for most of the time, wakes up and has a look around and then goes back to sleep.

Just as well I'm not a real parent and only a virtual one!!

Whilst comparing real families to virtual ones, I found a great post here at Blogging Without A Blog which describes an extreme scenario where there are, as someone once said, 'three people in this marriage'. In this case: a man, a woman and a blog.

Maybe it's just as well that I'm not married - faithful travelling companion would probably list 'Sitemeter addiction' as grounds for divorcing me!!

Same old same old

This weekend sees the annual ritual of the office Christmas night out. I used to be an enthusiastic participant but bailed out about 6 years ago and haven't really regretted it. Whilst it's nice to get all glammed up for the evening, you begin to wonder if it's all worth it - you sit down to overpriced conveyor-belt food, followed by dancing to music so predictable you're wishing the DJ had been shot at birth. Did you really go to all that trouble to get ready so that you could dance to the same music which has been played at every wedding and every party since the year dot?

I happened to mention to one of my work colleagues today that I wasn't going to the party, and he asked if it was "because they're not playing any European music?". I thought that was quite funny and my mind started to wander...

Imagine if I got to programme the music for the Christmas night out? Why have the Drifters, "Mustang Sally" and "Angels" when you could all be bopping around to BWO, Alcazar and Christophe Willem? ;)

There's no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.

I heard that saying over the weekend....it's so true at this time of year!

We had a little but of snow overnight. One snowflake and everything comes to a standstill. Why is this country never prepared for winter?

Friday night, but not as we know it

Throat infection and lost voice = a break from my usual Friday night tradition of hanging out with faithful travelling companion. We have shared custody of this cold/flu/whatever, this week: he got the runny nose, I got the ear/throat/voice hell. Which explains my blogging marathon tonight.

Voice: missing in action

Now I have lost my voice and can only whisper.

I am still at work, I'm on my teabreak at the moment. Thank goodness I don't need a voice to type !!

Woolies R.I.P.

Recessions come and go, but the big stores always survived. Till now anyway. Woolworths have always been there, for everything from Pick n' Mix to half price suitcases to top 40 CDs to Ladybird children's clothes to insoles and superglue. They seemed to sell a little bit of everything, but even that wasn't enough to save them.

In a big city it probably wouldn't really matter whether they were there or not: but in a small town like the one I live in, Woolies is/was an essential part of life.

Their heyday is long gone of course. They started selling too much, the shop became so packed that you couldn't actually find anything in it and it all became a bit tacky. Back in the 70s of my childhood, their Christmas TV adverts were legendary and star-studded, in the days when celebrities actually were celebrities. But now, as those great philosophers the Kaiser Chiefs once said, everything is average nowadays. Celebrities, advertising, Woolies. Yet I'll miss them.

MFI has also gone into administration. Who's next?

When do I start feeling better?

Still got a sore throat, sore ears and a head full of goo :(

That's four days now, I'm very impatient with this kind of thing and would just like to start feeling better now. Pretty please.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

• Once again our town has recycled possibly the most insignificant Christmas lights in history.
• Panic spreads across the faces of all those who can't get their hands on this year's must-have, Wii Fit. (Get a life and do some real exercise then!)
• Panic spreads among work colleagues as they realise that a) the balance of the Christmas night out has to be paid asap, and b) the Secret Santa presents have to be bought in the next two weeks. Blogger trying not to be smug as I'm avoiding both of them.
• Christmas ads on TV - Ok these have been on since about September, what am I talking about :)

This may all seem a bit bah-humbug but I love Christmas all the same, and the annual Christmas tree ceremony at EuropeCrazy HQ has been pencilled in for this Sunday. Yes, it's still November. Yes, I know. Well if you can't beat them, join them!!

Weight-watching update

There is some good news though: I've lost two pounds.

Once again this leaves me at the 7 pounds-till-target-weight scenario: yes it's Groundhog Day yet again!

Once I start feeling better I will throw myself into all efforts to get this weight off and quit Weight Watchers once and for all...

There are not enough throat lozenges in the world right now.

Why do I always come back from holiday with a cold or a throat infection? Here we go again.

About 45 mins before my return flight home yesterday, I started feeling sick and feverish in the airport. A few hours later I'd developed a throat so sore that there aren't enough throat lozenges in the world to soothe, and I could hardly move my head or face for the pain spreading across and into my ears. My only consolation is that I'm fine from the neck down!

Just as well really that I was off work today, although my plans had to be scrapped in favour of staying in bed till noon and trying to shake off this infection. Hope it goes away before I have to go back to work tomorrow.

I'm not the only one with it either - faithful travelling companion also texted me to say he had a cold.

:(

No, make that :((((((((((((((

Meh.

Put out the flags and rejoice as a new word is officially added to the world's vocalbulary:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/odd/a135817/meh-added-to-english-dictionary.html

I actually think 'meh' is OK although I never really use it. It's still btr thn txt spk, which really annoys me and that perhaps explains why it takes me 30 minutes to send a text message.

Good week, bad week

Good week for: my five minutes of blogging-fame. Thank you Salem, you have lifted my spirits and made me happier than I can even describe.

Christmas shopping - it's under way, and at a pretty advanced stage I reckon.

Bad week for: sore feet.

Public transport - or should I say the lack of it, as my little corner of the universe suffers from a pathetic reduction of service and a (temporary) road closure.

Dieting - it's a losing battle at this time of year! Still I stayed the same weight so it's not so bad, but my plan to quit Weight Watchers at the end of 2008 has officially been abandoned and I've decided to go with it for another while yet!!

The control freak's Christmas.

Firstly, I love Christmas. But in a low-key, back-to-basics, quality-not-quantity kind of way. I don't want to be confronted with Christmas cards in the shops before I go my summer holiday. I don't want to go into Poundland in the first week of November to be confronted with "Stop The Cavalry" on repeat.

What I do love is....spending Christmas with the people who mean the most to me, doing what we really want to do.

I am lucky enough to be in a situation where I avoid overspending and subsequent months of debt-hell, because the most important people in my life share my view that Christmas can, and should, be done on a budget, whilst still ensuring that everyone gets what they really really want.

This Christmas - just over six weeks to go, folks! - it's going to be even more low-key than ever. For reasons known only to myself and close chums, I'm not going to the office Christmas lunch, and subsequently have withdrawn from the annual Secret Santa ritual. Secret Santa is, of course, that thing when you pick someone's name out of a hat and buy them a Christmas gift, putting some thought into it and making sure that it's something they would like to receive. Over the years I've been lucky with what I've received so it's not as if I'm carrying any grudge or whatever: I just decided to take a year out of it.

Presents list is now compiled and all I have to do is buy them.

Yes, I may be an easy-going enthusiastic kind of girl, but underneath this exterior lurks a control freak, spurred into action....!

He's done it.

Well done Mr Obama - welcome to the presidency!

I can't remember a time in recent years when the whole world seemed to be buzzing with excitement about a U.S. election result, there is such optimism in the air and the world really needs that right now I think, what with all this economic doom and gloom and the c****t c****h (I refuse to mention that catchphrase-to-describe-the-recession, it sounds like a cereal bar or something), anyway you just get the feeling that this is not just a fresh start for America but it's a new era for the rest of the world too.

So let's celebrate :))

I can't stand up for falling down.

It's not been the greatest 7 days, has it? (And I don't just mean for Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross, ha ha)

Whilst walking home from work last Monday I went over on my left ankle and fell down, spraining my ankle and sustaining some very painful cuts and bruises.

Then on Friday at work it happened again, same thing. Have now attributed my repeated falls to a pair of very unlucky shoes which I will never wear again.

I do have a tendency to fall over quite regularly. Before you ask, this always happens when (a) I'm sober and (b) I'm wearing flat shoes. I can't wear high heels, but it seems that I'm not immune to getting up close and personal with the pavement even when wearing flat shoes.

The double-falls of last week are small fry compared to the Great Fall of 1999, during which I sustained a knee injury which is recurring even to this day. Then I had a very bad fall in June 2007 which I mentioned over at EuropeCrazy.

All this has knocked my confidence somewhat. Was feeling very sorry for myself on Friday but at least I've managed to get through the weekend without falling over :)

Here's a picture of my left knee: scary isn't it!! People of a nervous disposition, look away now...

America, it's up to you.

Two days to go till the American presidential election. The amount of coverage it’s been getting over here is quite remarkable, but it’s understandable too. It’s a bit like the 1997 General Election when a young, charismatic politician swept to power in a wave of hysteria. We can only hope that if he’s elected, Barack Obama doesn’t make the same mistakes and have the same fall from grace as Tony Blair.

I’m not American, but since everyone else has a view about it, here’s mine. Obama must win, because (a) if he doesn’t, we’re all doomed; and (b) there would be something truly encouraging about a multi-racial nation electing a mixed-race president for the first time in its history, and that alone would go a long way to changing the world’s view of America.

Is it just me, or did the world feel a safer place with a Democrat president in power? The last one, Bill Clinton, is now best known for dangerous liaisons and indiscretions, but I prefer to remember him as the man who helped end the Cold War. Republican presidents don’t end wars, they start them...

Since the Republicans have now run out of Bush family members to represent them, they’ve moved on to yet another over-the-hill guy named John McCain, and by picking Sarah Palin as his potential VP this has been a political masterstroke as she gets all the attention and could pick up the all-important religious vote. Obama on the other hand is a confident and strong campaigner who has impressed since beating Hillary Clinton as the Democrats’ candidate.

On Tuesday, American voters have the chance to change not just their own country, but the world we all live in. I genuinely believe that by electing Barack Obama as president, they might just save the world.

Fingers crossed...

Wherefore art thou, Mutant Cat?

There's been no sign of the mega-moggy this week.

Further news as I get it :)

Weight-watching update

You know that pound I gained last week?

I lost it.

Yay!!!!! Still got a way to go though, and I can't see myself quitting Weight Watchers Online just yet. Just need to motivate myself through the dark winter nights and hope that I can get through the next six months without succumbing to SAD once again. Fingers and everything else crossed!

Putting the 'brrrrr' into October

The last 16 days have brought nothing but central-heating-hell, hardly a day going by without a gas boiler breakdown at home, with no resolution in sight.

Think 2008 might just have stolen the 'worst year ever' title from 2007 :(

Oops....:(

Weigh-in day.

Gained 1lb.

Right, I need to get into this dieting thing...!

It figures

In my admin job I mainly work with words, not figures, which suits me just fine. I like words. Writing them, reading them, that's my kind of thing.

When it comes to working with figures, it has to be said that me n' those number things don't always see eye to eye but there comes a time you have to call a truce, and that day finally arrived. On Tuesday I took on a great big one-off finance challenge, so big that it's spanning two working days. One day down, and it hasn't beaten me yet. I'm smiling through my nervous breakdown.

I need to go to bed now, to get as much quality sleep to prepare my finance-unfriendly brain to engage once more in the battle with the spreadsheets tomorrow, by the end of which I will emerge triumphant. Either that or there's a deluxe padded cell booked for me for tomorrow night :)

Mutant Cat

It may have been "Big Cat Week" on TV, but here at EuropeCrazy HQ we have our very own mysterious big cat, which has been prowling through all the back gardens over recent weeks.

We don't know where it came from or who it belongs to, but we do know it's big. Very big indeed. So we have named it Mutant Cat.

Just thought I'd start a new blog...!

As if having two other blogs isn't enough, I thought I'd pollute cyberspace with yet another one which isn't about...

• Music
• Telly
• Travel
• Swedish singers I'm obsessed with

No, no, no, this is actually just going to be a place for me to rant and vent and express the odd opinion or two. Some of it will be serious and mature, some of it will be juvenile moans, and some of it will be nonsensical drivel. Enjoy!