Well this has just been one exciting week!

Got the training out of the way, which went well.

Then it was on to the real serious stuff - booking my trip to Gothenburg in 8 weeks time to go over and see Salem in concert. There were a couple of snags/hitches to begin with, but everything went well and I've now got flights, hotel and concert tickets booked!

Ironically, this happened on the same day as the announcement of Salem's new album being released so Wednesday was such an exciting day!!

After weeks of reckless gorging I've decided to lose a bit of weight and have been good this week. Result this morning = 2 lbs lost. Which may not be much for some people but that's major for me.

And I'm getting my (very long) hair cut tomorrow.

Good times :)))

It's not that it's easy, we just make it look that way

Been feeling a bit more tense than usual of late. Among other things, the time has come again for me to tutor another training course tomorrow and my stomach feels as if it's tied in triple-knots at the thought of standing up and delivering a course to a large group of people, only a couple of whom I know. The hardest thing about all this for me is the time-management aspect, trying to fit it in with what is a very stressful time workwise at the moment. Oh and the other tough bit is slotting all the course content into reasonable timeslots over the two days. It may look easy but there's a lot of work goes into it to make the event run smoothly.

My heightened state of agitation has had an impact on my relationships with my closest loved ones: I wouldn't want to hang out with me at the moment, I'm even getting on my own nerves. Got some other potentially stressful stuff over the next week and then things should hopefully be easing off a little.

Stuff worth looking forward to: the Planet Salem Gothenburg 2010 Adventure.

Only eight weeks to go!! Planning is underway but it's already hit a slight snag which I really hope can be resolved as I want to get everything booked before this week is over. And if it all works out I'll be so excited that I'll probably burst. Which would probably save me having to crash-diet :)

All decluttered out.

OK so there wasn't much relaxing after all as I spent the best part of the day continuing to declutter my bedroom. I suppose you'd still describe it as cluttered, but only with furniture and my sprawling CD collection. There is not a magazine, a mess of USB cables, a takeaway menu or a piece of unopened junk mail in sight. I'm tired now, but very happy; it's been a productive day.

Not so happy that I'm back at work tomorrow though :( still it's not long till the weekend :)

Blue Monday? What Blue Monday?

Apparently some psychologist came up with this formula that today, the third Monday in January, is the most depressing day of the year, when the realisation kicks in that you can't pay all those Christmas bills, you can't keep your new year resolutions, the weather is rubbish, the nights are still dark etc etc.

The one thing about throwing yourself into home improvements is that you forget all of the above for a while! Today was a very good day. Day off work for new blinds being fitted on our new windows so everything is nice and clean and new and lovely. Now that's done I could put my room back together, although as Operation "Declutter EuropeCrazy HQ" continues, I ended up spending the evening throwing more stuff out.

Extremely tiring day though, so off to sleep shortly! Even better is that tomorrow is another day off work, so will probably do a bit less housework and a bit more relaxing. Zzzzzzzz......

Snow = gone.

Yep, it's all gone. Finally. After almost five weeks.

Lots of rain came during the night on Friday and finally washed the snow and the three-inch-thick ice away, which deserves a great big woo-hoo!!

It's still very cold though, so my big red waterproof Trespass jacket will no doubt see much more action before the winter is out.

More to follow ....!

Touchy!

It's not been all bad news over the last few days though, as I've got me a new phone, one of those state of the art today, obsolete tomorrow, touch-screen phones. Which is surprisingly easy to use, (even with my index finger all plastered up following a horrible accident at home last Friday) and it might even help me to text quicker. Being the world's slowest texter, that's a tall order :)

Anyway it's got 'widgets' and a decent camera and I've even got some music on it, even if it's only five songs just now, all by the same person. Yes, that one.

Which brings me to a conversation earlier tonight with the eternally technophobic faithful travelling companion:

Me: "I've got a tune from a certain Swedish musical genius as my ringtone."

Him: "Basshunter!"

The return of...pavements!

The last 48 hours have just brought more personal lows (and extreme lows in some cases), leading me to believe that the beginning of 2010 reminds me more of 2007 (yes that bad) anyway I'm looking on the brighter side today.

Pavements are back! Yes finally after four weeks of snow, the pavements have begun to re-emerge. I'd forgotten what they looked like, and indeed forgot how to walk on them - got so used to walking that funny way you do on snow and ice.

The world's most insignificant Christmas lights are still up and still lit in my town. Have they not heard of Twelfth Night? No wonder we get so much bad luck :)

Windows 2010 / Frozen Britain / Buffering / Phone....

Taking a bit of "chill out" time which in these temperatures takes on a new meaning!

I'm not referring to some new operating system, but actually to the new windows at EuropeCrazy HQ which are very nice and functional and ...new, but there is so much else to be done, involving continued upheaval over the space of the coming week which means normality and blogging and stuff is on hold yet again.

FROZEN BRITAIN! yells the headline scrolling across the screen of all our news channels. As this country is totally rubbish and can't get anything right, we're therefore subject to salt shortages. (I wonder what the implications are for chip shops across the UK???? What will you have with your vinegar??) Anyway there's a grit shortage, cars are skidding and crashing, people are falling and fracturing limbs, and we've been looking out at the same snow/ice which has refused to shift since about mid-December. Still, it could be so much worse. You could live in a part of Russia which is -40 degrees. Wonder how they cope? Better than us, I should imagine.

What's been annoying me today? Constant buffering on YouTube, and not being able to watch the Norsk Melodi Grand Prix because I don't have this super-duper-fast internet connection.

On the plus side, I got my new touch screen phone on Friday, which is going to take me about 5 years to actually learn how it works, ha ha.

And one more thing: woolly hats with pom-poms totally rule.

Festive season = officially over.

Today we took the Christmas tree and decorations down, so I suppose that signals the end of the festive season then. Took my false nails off too, which also usually signals the end of the festive season. Typing will now get easier, which is a total relief when you make your living as a typist ha ha!!

Although it is still very "Christmassy" outside as we had yet another day of snow and there is no sign of it going away either....

The forthcoming window replacement has given us a good reason to de-clutter and clear out the house. This has been hectic but strangely therapeutic: I should do this more often rather than putting off until tomorrow what can be done next week. :)

A brief farewell....

As with my other two blogs I decided to post my new year greetings tonight. I just want to wish everyone a happy new year and all the best for 2010.

I'm taking a break for a couple of weeks as something has come up at home (nothing bad, just a sudden home-improvement thing which came out of the blue, we were expecting it but just not this early!) and it will require a lot of upheaval over the next week or so, therefore I'll be very busy and won't have time to blog until Monday 11th January, when I should be back in blog-land if things all go to plan.

In the meantime.....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

We got chills, they're multiplying

ITV News tonight: "The wintry weather is back".

Ummm......excuse me, for some of us it hasn't been away! Freezing/below freezing temperatures and snow which refuses to melt is now the norm for us. This has resulted in the realisation that none of our winter fashion boots are actually up to the job of coping with this weather, so that's led to an acute shortage of wellies as people rush to the shops to snap up some very colourful patterned boots which would otherwise remain on shoe shop shelves from one festival season to another.

Let's go back, way back, into the mists of time. When such things as gritter lorries existed, and you had things like grit salt bins. Back in the day they used to clear the pavements so that we pedestrians could actually walk on them; now every day is like an audition for "Dancing on Ice" - although most of us are more Todd Carty than Torvill and Dean :))))

Sales success.

My first outing to the 2009 post-Christmas sales today, and it was very successful too - new skirt, knitwear, handbag, jewellery, bath stuff and the long-awaited skinny jeans. Now you know that I'd previously bought a pair in the summer sales but they were too small for me when I bought them. This time I wasn't making that mistake and made sure I bought a pair which were a good fit to begin with.

Thank goodness for shops that do petite ranges: it's not always easy finding jeans when you're only a 29" leg. And another thing....why do jeans manufacturers assume that if you're a size 16 then you must be about 5ft 10" tall????

Anyway I got my new jeans, so rant over. Good old Dorothy Perkins.

I'll have to wait till next week to head off to the big city for part 2 of my sales adventures: in the meantime it's back to work tomorrow, aah the joys of living in a town with no decent shops :(

And it's very, very, very, very cold tonight, there is no sign of the week-old snow melting and the pavements are so icy now that only Torvill and Dean would be able to negotiate them!!

That happy post-Christmas feeling.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and that it was everything you wished for.

I had a very enjoyable time, no change to the usual Christmas routine but that's the way we like it! Got lots of lovely presents and also lots of money to buy some more goodies in the sales!!

We are still surrounded by snow: it's been so cold that last week's snow hasn't melted, and there are little daily top-ups of new snow too. The temperature tonight is forecast to drop to -5 degrees which is pretty cold for this country but that's nothing compared to other parts of the world which are much worse, and they just get on with it.

I haven't been out for a few days but will finally venture out tomorrow - wrapped up in my fabulous new cosy scarf which I got for Christmas - to check out the sales, which as usual will probably be rubbish and I'll moan relentlessly that there's nothing in the clothes shops but size 8s and 10s which they haven't been able to shift for months - however they may yet surprise me :)))

Sweden in the snow

http://www.webbkameror.se/ is an absolutely brilliant website, packed with webcam views of towns and cities all over Sweden. Here's some pictures which I found tonight, of Malmö, Skövde and Norrköping respectively:

It's not only the goose who's getting fat :)))

The downside to ditching Christmas party nights, apart from denying myself the opportunity to get all glammed up, is the lack of motivation to slim down to fit into a flashy party frock. Oh well.

Over the last few weeks there's been no motivation at all, combined with those two colds which floored me, which means that my waist has completely vanished and I'll need to send out a search party. Now it's Christmas holiday week which has completely opened the floodgates: spare tyres all over the place, spots (which I'm not usually prone to) and the realisation that I'll need to buy a pair of skinny jeans which actually fit, rather than those ones I bought a few months ago which were too tight when I bought them - you get the idea, "I'll slim into them" but you never do. Bad idea.

But do you know something? The diet can wait. It's Christmas!!

Walking in a winter wonderland

Well not exactly, I didn't go out today and decided just to stay in, do some tidying up and watch the snow falling outside.

Yes we have had snow for six consecutive days now and the prospect of a white Christmas is a very real possibility. It's also very cold at the moment. Brrr!

The snow may be nice to look at, but it can also cause havoc and disruption, which is spreading across the continent at the moment : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8425805.stm

...IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!!!

• Only 5 shopping days left. Do shopping malls really need to open till midnight? Why are people so disorganised? It's not as if Christmas has just appeared by surprise. We know it's happening, like, every year.


• As previously mentioned in 2008, my hometown has recycled the world's most insignificant Christmas lights for another underwhelming season. You know that your town's Christmas lights are seriously rubbish when neighbouring villages have better lights than your apology for a "town".


• Yet again I passed on the whole party night/Secret Santa/Christmas lunch thing and didn't feel like I missed out on anything. (Certainly didn't miss out on copious amounts of Quality Street scoffed with a couple of my colleagues whilst we covered in the office yesterday when everyone else was away for Christmas lunch.....!)


• This week I got some very lovely Christmas presents from my boss and friends at work and truly appreciate their warmth and friendship (and extremely good taste) - it's great to be part of such a lovely group of people and it's a pleasure to spend every working day with them. Here's my lovely big Yankee Candle set which already has pride of place in my living room:

• Mum and I had our annual trip to the panto today which was fab and funny and maximum entertainment. Oh yes it was!!!! That's one Christmas tradition which we always enjoy.


• Tomorrow = wrapping presents and then putting them all under the tree. So I probably won't really be around blogland till later tomorrow....


• One more thing - I'm now on holiday! Finished work yesterday and won't be back at my desk till Tuesday 29th!!!!!! Hoping to have a reasonably chilled out week.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the Christmas shopping for 2009.

Yes they think it's all over....it is now.

Today I took some time out of work to go and do the last 'loose ends' of my Christmas shopping for this year. As usual, I've gone into control freak mode but it's been all very relaxing so far and the one thing I refuse to do is panic, unlike some people I could mention!!

In other news, I'm still feeling slightly under the weather, although finally getting better.

Being a Libran, 'indecisive' is of course my middle name, but once I bring myself to a decision it is set in stone and no going back. Last night I made a decision: I'm going to get a new mobile phone at the start of next year. One of those nice touch-screen ones, which do everything from taking good quality pictures and playing mp3s to possibly making the tea (well you never know.....).

As a tortoise would probably beat me in a texting competition, I wonder if a touch-screen phone would make me text any faster???? (Ummm.....probably not)

That 'why I haven't posted here' post

Basically I've not been feeling very well over the past two weeks. A few weeks ago I caught a really nasty cold which took me three weeks to recover from, then I caught the very same cold again almost two weeks ago. Because I've got sinus trouble, all my colds then develop into horrible sinus infections which go on for another week, where you feel sick all the time as if your body is full of green poisonous goo. Sorry to be so graphic, but that's the best description I can think of.

Happily I finally feel today as if I'm on the mend, but now my mum's got a very nasty throat infection and she's lost her voice. She's been looking after me over the past week, but now it's role reversal time again and I'm going into carer mode again.

I won't be posting much this week apart from the 2009-50 chart on EuropeCrazy and the live concert updates on Planet Salem, so maybe I might fit a couple of posts in here along the way. Counting down the days till I finish up at work for pre-Christmas leave: only 9½ working days to go. Yippppeeeee!

(sniff)

So what, I hear you ask (or maybe not), am I doing online on a Friday night when this is usually spent in the company of faithful travelling companion?

Two reasons: 1) FTC is not here tonight, he is over in Dublin staying with friends.
2) I'm not in Dublin, but here at EuropeCrazy HQ with paracetamol, Strepsils, hankies stuffed up my nose....yep, I have the cold. Again. So much for my fitness regime and daily multivitamin intake blah blah blah. Haven't even got over the last one and here we are again. I've had this cold since Tuesday. Wednesday was probably the worst day then it seemed to be going but now it came back with a vengeance this afternoon; am now feeling thoroughly miserable so am going to be a bit responsible (for a change) and get to bed early.

Normal blog service to be resumed (fingers crossed) soon....

Umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh

When is this rain going to stop???!!!!

Happy days, in the real and virtual worlds

Haven't posted on here recently, not just because I'm busy with the other two blogs but mainly because it's been a very tense time of late - the last few months (and particularly the last few weeks) had brought a period of new uncertainty over my mum's health, and it's been a stressful and unsettled time. Today however, she got the all-clear. To say that we are both happy and relieved is probably an understatement, and it's just the best feeling in the world to know that she can now relax and go back to getting on with enjoying life.

Back in the virtual world of blog-land, it has also been an amazing week, thanks to some news from Sweden two days ago, which has been well documented at EuropeCrazy and Planet Salem. The Melodifestivalen announcement was particularly amazing as it was the moment when my two blog-worlds collided!!

Yes, once again, life is good :))))

Twenty years later...

If we need any proof that we're getting older and time is flying by faster than ever, then it's been brought into very sharp focus for me over the last few days as I've been watching various TV shows, video clips and radio shows reminiscing about the fall of the Berlin Wall. Today the 20th anniversary of the opening of the East German border is being commemorated, and I know this sounds like an old cliche but it feels so recent and fresh in the memory.

I was very interested to read recently that although 20 years have passed since the barriers were broken down and the subsequent reunification of the 'two Germanys', there is still a vast difference between the standard of living in the east and west sides of the country. A business has grown up around the idea of 'Ostalgie' - nostalgia for some aspects of the old East German way of life - not the surveillance by the Stasi, but anything from food brands to Trabant cars to TV shows.

It may seem like a retro-chic trend, but for those who have not been dealt a good hand by the arrival of capitalism, unemployment and seeing their country being wiped off the European map, you may begin to understand why there's a genuine nostalgia for what they remember as the positive aspects of day-to-day life in their 'old country' - full employment and community spirit to name two.

20 years ago today. I think about people who are just reaching, say, their 20th birthday. They have grown up in a world where Europe wasn't divided by the 'iron curtain', no Berlin Wall, no German Democratic Republic, no Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia, no Soviet Union....it will all feel like distant history for them. A city divided by a wall? A continent divided by opposing ideologies? Seems unthinkable now, but the post-war/'Cold War' period of history should never be forgotten, and that we should always learn lessons from history. There may be no physical 'walls' now,or 'Iron Curtains', but the walls of nationalism and extremism are being built higher and higher across our continent. They're the walls that need to be knocked down, before it's too late.

07.11.09. That would be Sir Cliff then, singing Mistletoe and Wine.

It's here.

Just the other day I happened to mention that there hadn't been any Christmas songs on, during any recent bouts of retail therapy. Good.

Until today that is. I decided to head off to the big city on my own, as today was a bit of a research trip - checking out what's on offer a) to buy for Christmas presents and b) to suggest to Santa what I might like....anyway it was a bit of a marathon which took its toll, so I'll be having an early night and not blogging into 2am or thereabouts. It was a pretty successful and productive day: the Christmas shopping has officially begun.

Now I love Christmas, so don't think that you have a bah-humbug thing going on here, but I think there should be an embargo on Christmas songs being played in shops until, say, the beginning of December at least. At this time of the year I feel really sorry for those who work in the retail trade, being subjected to the same old musical classics/turkeys (delete where appropriate) year after year.

Anyway I went into BHS and was greeted by..."Christmas time, mistletoe and wine" and my heart immediately sank. That's it started now, there is no escape until 25.12.2009. There's a lot to be said for iPods.

Talking of which, I called mine into action on the bus home, as I had the world's loudest man sitting behind me, yelling into his mobile phone for the most part of the journey. The best part was that brief few moments of silence when he lost the signal..... :)))))

Yes the bath is full of seaweed, don't panic

I seem to be enjoying some little luxuries these days and why not? I've already developed an obsession with Yankee Candle wax tarts, which are highly fragranced blobs of wax which you put in the top of an oil burner, heat below with a tealight candle, the wax melts and your living space is suddenly filled with your aroma of choice. My favourites at the moment are too many to mention but I particularly love Cranberry Chutney. Home Sweet Home smells like cinnamon balls, if you remember them, Frosted Pumpkin smells like gingerbread, and tonight I'm trying out Black Cherry which also appeals to me as I love fruity/citrus smells.

Another thing I've recently got into: Lush bath ballistics, which are a very luxurious essential oil-filled alternative to bubble bath. However I probably won't buy the Big Blue again, purely for the fact that it's got seaweed through it, and leaves the bath in one great big seaweedy mess. At least Avobath and Blackberry are less messy. (I quite fancy some of their special edition Christmas range though, so watch this space) By the way, the Lush website tells us that it's only 53 sleeps to Christmas. A reassuring thought ....!

Something to look forward to!

My dream of making it back to Sweden to see Salem play live again next March has just got that little bit closer, as it looks as if there will be flights to and from Gothenburg from one of my local airports after all :)

I know it's tempting fate, mentioning and thinking about it so early when there could still be some obstacles in the way, but I want to make it happen the same way I did earlier this year.

And why not? Life's too short, and every day something happens to remind me of that, so I'm just going to do all the things I want to do, while I'm reasonably young and fit enough :)))

Five months to go till another dream comes true...... :)))))))))

Dare I say triumphant?

So another Tuesday meant another of my presentations at the weekly admin staff development sessions...only this time it was with a difference as I was attending a) for the full day and b) with my own admin group, so I had mixed feelings as on the one hand I was playing to the 'home team' where the subject matter would have much more relevance than in previous weeks - on the other hand I felt more pressure for the same reason.

As it turned out it all went very well and was received even more positively than I'd expected or hoped for. Being someone who's terrified by the thought of public speaking, it's been an amazing learning process and my confidence has grown over the weeks. Rating myself X Factor-style, the first couple of weeks I'd probably have put myself in the bottom two and voted myself off, but this is now the 5th one and on this performance I'm definitely through to next week's show (OK I'm not doing next week, but you get the idea).

It was an enjoyable day and I'm glad it went well. Now back to reality (work) tomorrow and trying to balance an ever increasing workload....

BST 2009, RIP / Clearout time! / Croak croak / 3lbs off

So British Summer Time is officially over. The clocks went back last night, it's 6pm and it's dark outside. If like me you suffer from 'SAD' syndrome, with a depression heightened by a lack of natural daylight, the period between the end of October and the end of March can be terrible at times. Having said that I managed to get through the whole of last winter without too many episodes of it, and am hoping for the same this year. Just need to keep myself occupied - won't have any problem with that as there is always lots to do!

Like one outstanding job which took all day today and couldn't wait any longer: the wardrobe/drawers clearout, to make room for my new autumn/winter clothes. There is now a very large pile of clothes in the corner of my bedroom which will be going off to the charity shops and hopefully their next owner will enjoy wearing them as much as I did.

The blogging is also very good therapy: there's always lots to write about at this time of year so it also takes my mind off the winter blues.

I have one horrible leftover from last week's cold-from-hell: can't stop coughing and my voice regularly breaks into a croak. My poor mum, whose list of health problems just seems to be getting longer and longer, now also has the very same cold too. As if she's not got enough to worry about :(

Good news: lost 3lbs last week. After quitting Weight Watchers I'm now on what I call the 'Frank Sinatra Plan' - I'm doing it 'My Way' (!) and not following any particular diet this time. As I wasn't well enough to exercise I just watched what I was eating and drank lots of water. Loving fruit at the moment, particularly raspberries which are just my most favourite fruit and as my dieting chums say that they are a particular 'fat burner'. There's quite a bit to burn so they will have their work cut out :)))) At least now I'm feeling better so I'm going to start exercising again this week.

Rotten cold, day 7....but there may be blogging ahead

I need the "Big Brother" voiceover for this one: "Day 7 in the 'rotten cold' house".

It finally got too much to take and I was sent home sick from work yesterday, as I reached the point where I couldn't function any more.

The rest of my day and night consisted of paracetamol, throat lozenges, and lots of sleep and rest. Anyway I'm feeling a lot better today, at least the extreme headaches and the sneezing have gone although I'm still coughing, breathless, choked up and am as white as a sheet, even paler than my usual complexion if that's possible. At least I'm well enough now to blog, so I'd better get on with it....

Rotten cold, day 5.

I thought it had gone away but it came back last night with a vengeance, the non-stop sneezing started (which I hadn't had in the beginning).

Hoped to do lots of blog posts this week but they'll just have to wait till I'm better :)

a) Cold; b) Does public speaking ever get any easier?

Right so anyway I'm now in the early stages of a rotten cold, my throat feels raw, (there aren't enough Strepsils in the world to soothe it) my ears are sore, the top half of my body aches and I generally feel like ****.

I would hazard a guess that faithful travelling companion, in his infinite generosity, probably passed it on to me at the weekend - he had a very similar cold at the beginning of last week. Although I'm trying not to name and shame and blame at this point, as there are millions of horrible little viruses floating around in the air at any given time.

And as if that's not bad enough, it's Tuesday tomorrow which of course is presentation-day, tomorrow will be the 4th one out of the 6 I have to do, next one is in two weeks at my own team's development day and the final one is in mid-November I think, then comes the massive sigh of relief :)

I'm my own biggest critic and I still don't feel satisfied with my performance. I know what I want to say and I'm glad I've got my notes to refer to, but standing up in a room and talking to a group of your peers doesn't get any less scary as the weeks go on. Suppose it will be better this week though, was in a bit of a panic last week about other stuff which thankfully sorted itself out.

Apart from all that, life is good, but I've been enjoying the good life a bit too much lately, cue the disappearance of the waistline and the unwanted return of the double chin. Must really get back into the fitness-thing after I feel better!

Birthday.

It was my birthday today, and I had a rather nice day too in spite of being at work....of course the gang made it very special even though I tried not to mention the fact that it was my birthday :)))

Anyway I got lots of nice things and then tonight I was hanging out with faithful travelling companion for birthday celebration part 1; birthday celebration part 2 follows this Friday as we'll be going out to our favourite local Indian restaurant for the now-traditional birthday dinner.

Yes I really enjoyed today!! And even though I might be getting older, it doesn't mean I have to grow up, does it???

Last day of my holiday.

Been back from Turkey for almost a week and my blogging output has been minimal to say the least. No it's not bloggers-block this time, just been caught up in my latest little project, getting my music collection in order, cataloguing and putting it all into a nice big database. Being the obsessive list-making computer geek that I am, this should come as no surprise ha ha.

Anyway the last week has flown by, with its mix of retail therapy, leisurely lunches and work, rest and play. I'm trying not to feel that sense of impending doom about the end of my summer holiday fortnight, but the fact remains that it is the last day of my holiday and yes I'm feeling fed up about that.

But I need to go back to work tomorrow so I can earn more money to save up for the next holiday!! Also consoling myself a little that it's only a four day week and it won't be long till the weekend. At which time the annual autumn EuropeCrazy HQ house-painting bonanza will begin again: this seems to be a little tradition which I introduced for the following reasons:
a) to keep the post-holiday/dark night blues at bay;
b) to freshen up the house in time for Christmas (yes it's not long now, and I've had my first sighting of cards, gift bags and big chocolate boxes in the shops. It's only a matter of time till Poundland gets the Christmas CD on)

Oh, and there is also the small matter of my birthday this Wednesday. Trying to stay upbeat about this as I don't look or act my age, which is only a number blah blah blah. :O

Two sleeps to go.

We're off to Turkey on Monday for our summer holiday. I can't believe where the time has gone, as it feels as if we're just back from our last one (Dusseldorf in May).

I'm looking forward to this one with a mix of excitement and slight trepidation. Being the seasoned city-breakers that we are, we don't traditionally do "package holidays" as that kind of thing isn't really our scene, so this is a big change and we're well out of our comfort zone here.

I know you're supposed to relax on holiday but if I'm being honest, I don't really do relaxation! However, recent weeks could only be described as manic and stressful, so for once I'm looking forward to going on a holiday where the pace will be slowed right down.

We love discovering new cultures so this should be another big change. I know a lot of people who have been to Turkey, past and present, and they have all loved it. So we head off with open minds, and fingers crossed that the heavy rain stops and the temperature doesn't go too far above 30 degrees.

The only problem now is trying to make room in my rather small suitcase for all the souvenirs I'm going to buy over there...... :)

Proof that diets don't work.

Since I gave up dieting about 4 or so weeks ago, I haven't been near a set of scales, but I've lost inches and got thinner. So my clothes fit me better, which makes me happier.

Result.

Need to learn how to paddle a canoe

Where I live we have had torrential rain virtually every day since the middle of July. Have decided that if this goes on I may have to travel to work not on foot or by bus, but by boat.

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.