I need a holiday

I'm desperate to get away. I don't know why, but I'm incredibly grumpy. Pissed off, in fact. I haven't seen the sun shine for weeks. It's grotty and rainy outside pretty much every day. And it's cold. And I hate the cold more than anything.

It's the same thing, day in and day out. Even when it's not the same thing, it's the same thing. If that makes sense.

So, I've been contemplating solutions. Focusing on the whole "I need a getaway" idea.

I've gotten nowhere. Stupid moral compass telling me to save money. And we have the government to thank for prices going up on everything. Pretty soon they are going to tax the air....breathing will be expensive.

I'm going to bed to mull over my problems. Perhaps wake up in a better mood and a brilliant idea.

I just checked the weather...possibility of snow tomorrow. Excellent.

Staring at the Ceiling

I was staring at the ceiling last night, loving the look of my chandelier against the somewhat peeling ceiling. It's the cold January nights that make me curl up in bed earlier than anticipated, and while trying to drift off to sleep I tend to go through the one million things bouncing around my head. I find that by thinking through a handful, I drift off to dreamland, and last night was no exception.

Things I considered while staring at the ceiling:

*I want a chandelier in every room of my house. Including the bathroom.*

*Nearly out of perfume...I wonder how my Boots points are looking.*

*((I wonder if I turning the power switch off for the kettle?))*

*Rich is going to have to get used to makeup, hair products and hair grips everywhere. I'll be sure to leave some lace knickers around as well...just to keep him on side.*

*Shoot. Forgot to mark the Year 12 Grouping essays!*

*Yawn*

*I can't wait until summer when I can be warm again.*

*Yawn*

*I think I'll wear my pencil skirt tomorrow...*

Ah. Drifting off into sweet, fashionable dreams. What a way to go....

xx

Driving....what a pain.

I hate driving.

I really do.

Sure, there's the novelty of coasting on the open road and singing along to the radio as you are zipping down the M25 at 70 mph.

But the reality is that there are very few roads in England like the M25. Very few with dual carriageway. In fact, most of the roads I get to travel on on a day to day basis are hardly wide enough for one car, let alone traffic coming both ways.

And the street signs? What street signs. Seriously. On main roads (like the M25), they are set off to the left, so when passing a lorry, you won't actually see that there is a sign - and in fact - your turn off in 100 meters.

I will not go into the fact that I got lost (both going and coming) due to overtaking a lorry and missing my exit and listening to the iPhone when it tells me to take a "alternative route" home that I know to be somewhat incorrect.

Let's just leave it to the fact that the roads are rubbish. Signposting is rubbish. iPhone map can - sometimes - be rubbish.

London was excellent though. A bit of shopping. A bit of coffee. A bit of wine. Cheeky photo taken in the pub, attached for your amusement.

I've resolved to buy a Tom-Tom. I'm also going to stay in next weekend. I aim to be in my pjs until an ungodly hour. Hopefully I don't have much work to do so I can just relax. No driving makes for a good weekend, agreed?

xx

London, Baby!

I'm off to the big city for the weekend.

Rich and I were meant to spend a day in London before Christmas, but the weather managed to destroy our plans of ice skating, mulled wine and enjoying holiday lights.

I'm happy to be spending the weekend in the city - it's better than sitting in the flat doing work!!

xx

I'm not a plumber....

When I made the decision to move into my own flat, I had no idea what I was doing. In the 3.5 years I have lived in the UK, I have always lived with others.

There was No. 47 - My first home away from home. Rich was probably the most normal of the occupants in that house. The others were....well...unique? I think the highlight of living there was being woken up at 4:00 in the morning by someone pounding on the door and ringing the doorbell. I had no idea who the guy was, but he insisted that he "mate" was our newest housemate and he had somehow lost track of him and he didn't have his keys and please could he come in to go to sleep. My thoughts? "I'm not really interested in dying tonight. No you may not come in. Good night."

After a few months I moved a bit further up the road (near enough next door to my place of employment) to No. 124. Another shared house, and this time with all medical students! The first batch were dirty, the second batch consisted of a lad who aired his pants in front of my bedroom door, a gay Spaniard who referred to himself as "Count" and Ro - a tea drinking Irishman who had a lovely girlfriend named Amy - friends I was happy to keep!

The upside? Quickest commute to work ever. The downside? When you can see your work from your window, you are never quite far enough away. Children took to shouting "JENNY!" up to my window - just to see if I would react. Needless to say, I had to put a few thousand houses between myself and these children.

I then relocated to West Lynn to live with my mate Wharfinton in the countryside. I Loved the countryside! Cute flat. Chavs living across the square claiming benefits by lying. A LONG distance from work. Cows. The occasional smell of fish from the docks.... The chavs provided interesting entertainment.... I saw why half of my students swear at me.... Yea.

The time came to move.

I wanted to have my own space. I ended up renting a flat in an old house on dodgy London Rd. Upon walking in, it was like entering Beirut, and not as a holiday location, but once inside the flat, it was lovely! Very chic. Very me. I took it! And then I realised I had coin operated electricity. What....

Which brings me to the present moment. The sink seemed to not be draining. Rich pulled the U bend out (because I'm a girl and I can't do things like that) and we learned that the blockage was further down the pipe. The landlord came. He saw. He got soaked. He said he'd be back tomorrow.

I'm still going to use the water. Hopefully no one is passing by tomorrow morning at about 7:06. I like my coffee around that time. And I'm not a plumber.

2011 is going to be a good year

The new year always provides individuals with an opportunity to reflect on their lives and look back at the previous year with insight and criticism. I'm not going to bat about the brush - 2010 was a tough year. I worked my ass off, had a nightmare travelling

(Rain in Gran Canaria, Flights to Greece cancelled twice [resulting in NO trip to Greece], and finally getting stuck in the UK when Heathrow decided they couldn't handle the snow at Christmas).

There were, however, some brilliant moments - I met (or rather came to a realisation that he was) the love of my life. I completed my masters (which was the 'working my ass off').

And I have the opportunity to develop my leadership skills within my department.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!

2011 is going to be good. Call it a hunch. I think things are changing, but changing for the good. After all, life is what we make it. And I'm on track to make it FABULOUS. Roll on, 2011. Roll on.