Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Does anyone know why it's Boxing Day anyway?

So there’s another Christmas over. It always makes me a bit sad. This year I am more sad than usual because this time next week I will be half way around the world starting a new life and a new job. Let’s just hope I land on my feet once again when I get out there and it doesn’t all go belly up. Of course it would be much less likely to go belly up if I had actually done something in preparation of going. I’d tell you about all the things I still need to do but you might only judge me and think I am stupid for not being more prepared.

But back to Christmas, I got lots of nice things and most were small enough to maybe take with me! One of my most exciting presents was a web cam so I can see and talk to people in the Motherland, well you can see and talk to me. So I urge you to also get a web cam and then we can be web cam buds. Other things I got include:

Walk the Line – you already know my feelings on this
USB hub – handy when you have a lot of USB needs like web cams and the like.
Peter Kay book – everyone knows the genius of the man, now I can read his story.
Mini tripod – no more shaky shots for me.
Chocolate coins – always a winner.
Pens – always a winner (with me anyway).

Right must go, things to do. I’d tell you but then I’d have to kill you.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

What day is today?

I’ve spent most of this week being confused by the days. On Tuesday I thought it was Wednesday, on Wednesday I thought it was Friday and I have no clue what today feels like. Mum tells me it’s Thursday but I’m not convinced. Now that I am on holday time, it'll only get worse.

Here’s a summary of the week (days are accurate):

Sunday
My first Carol service of the season and YF Christmas Party. My favourite game was the ‘make your own Christmas decoration’ game. I watched another Christmas film, Miracle on 34th Street. This was also the day when I should have written Christmas cards. That didn't happen so unless a wave of enthusiasm comes over me, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope 2007 is wonderful! Love Tina xxx

Monday
The work Christmas Party and Annual Present game. A good time was had by all and I got the present I wanted, sorry Graham. I played my favourite game the Team and Nicky, Guess Which Famous Person I Saw in Castlecourt, and was once again ready to run when the answer was revealed. I don’t why they are disappointed when they find out it’s Santa. That’s a quality celebrity spot!



'Tis the season to... wear hats made of tissue paper.

Tuesday
My last full day in work and the happy return of Office Cricket. We didn’t play at all this time so a good game was coming, alas it was cut short, but not before I got my half century. I think they let me get it, it being my last game before I retire from the sport.



The batting warm up.

The other memorable bit from the day came when the photocopier man came to fix the photocopier. He’s very passionate about photocopiers and told stories about photocopiers from the seventies which had mice in them. (They were living there because it was cozy, not there in some sort of industrial copying workhouse.) But the moment came when I tried to show him what was going wrong with it printing and photocopying. I showed him the examples sitting on my desk, an email printout and unfortunately evidence from the Christmas party the night before. Photocopied faces (he had to clean the glass after he fixed the machine) and the work entitled ‘Fingers Extended’. Could have been worse, there were no bare bums (which led him to tell a ten minute story about glass breaking after office parties. Apparently the glass can cost up to £90 to replace because despite what it may look like it’s not ordinary glass. You have been warned).

Went to my second Carol service in Methody. It was good and typical MCB. The choir sang fourteen pieces. Surely above and beyond?

Wednesday
I finished off this stint in the Department with another great feed, the Christmas dinner. Very nice it was. We walked in at 1.00pm and out at 10.30pm. That’s right, Methodists doing Christmas dinners like champions! My new phone arrived ending the sorry relationship I had with Sony Ericcson. Nokia and I are now happily reunited. It was a good day.

Thursday
I haven’t actually done anything today. Not a sausage. My sore throat of last week morphed into a cold this week and today I have finally succumbed to bird flu.

In other news, I am looking forward to getting to sunnier climes where there is no ice for me to fall on. I fell coming into the house, cracking my knee off the front doorstep. It bloody well hurt and I cried like the girl I am. There is a lump, doubling the size of my already ugly knee. No doubt the bruise will follow. I reckon it will rival anything Ruth can get in hockey.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Five things

I was tagged by Jools. Ever keen to play games, here’s five things you might not know about me:

1. The only bone I have broken is my left wrist. I did this when I was 12, a week before I went on holiday to Majorca with Karen Next Door and her parents. I broke it playing ‘run down the hill and jump off the wall to see how far you can get’ at Browns Bay with YF. I went on holiday anyway but had to wear a plastic bag with rubber band in the pool and was never fully emersed the whole two weeks. See Karen for the hilarious clip of me trying to get on the lilo using only one arm. [The tape also contains amusing footage of Karen getting fully hacked off with her dad and the video camera. For her tender age, she uses some adult language. Either that or she's practising her French in entirely the wrong country.]

2. That holiday to Majorca is the only typical beach holiday I’ve had. We used to go to Guernsey and although we went to the beach it was no Costa Del Sol. Neither did we ever go to Portrush (or indeed Newcastle) on day trips or holidays. The first memorable time I went there was when I was 12 with YF (probably the week before I broke my wrist) although my parents say they did take us once. I'm not really moaning, I'd just rather go somewhere to see something other than a tourist beach and a hotel swimming pool. And I think Portrush and Newcastle are tacky. There, I said it. Kick me out of the country why don't you.

3. I have no cousins. My dad has eleven. My mum doesn't have any either. Her dad had 33.

4. I never had a detention in school ever, not even a lunchtime detention for French vocab. Actually I don’t think I have ever failed an exam either, although I did have to ‘resit’ my L6th summer exams, but this was because my teachers were ‘disappointed’ with my results. Technically I didn’t fail because other people got lower marks than me but they didn’t have to resit. Yes, I am still bitter about this.

5. I claim to be a
supertaster. I have a greater number of fungiform papiliae which house taste buds. This means that I taste things in coffee, alcohol, grapefruit and chilli you normoes can’t. Despite the scientific evidence to the contrary my dad still says this is just a fancy name for fussiness.

So I tag
Karen Next Door, Pam, Ruth, Helen and Kari (use your own blog, the comments or your Bebo) please and thank you.

Friday, December 15, 2006

‘Great’ films I’ve never seen

We saw ‘The Holiday’ tonight. A bit less Christmas than I’d imagined and a bit too much corn but still highly watchable, I still enjoyed it. I totally understand why it got panned by Dom on Chris Moyles, boys I’d stay away. (Unless of course you want to learn how to get a Cameron Diaz?*)

In it, they talk about various ‘great’ films, which reminded me of the list I was composing in my head of films I have never seen. So in no particular order…

ET
The Wizard of Oz
Any Indiana Jones film
Gone With the Wind
The Rocky films (or Rambo come to think of it)
The Godfather (1, 2, or 3)
Casablanca
Schlinder’s List
The Silence of the Lambs
Any Monty Python film
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
Donnie Darko
Kill Bill (1 or 2)
The Princess Bride

That Goonies thing (I hadn't even heard of this film until a year or two ago)
Gladiator
Gandhi
Stand By Me
Ben Hur
Spartacus
Apocalypse Now

The Last Samurai
Any Jaws film
Any Alfred Hitchcock film
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Goodfellas
Any of the Terminator films
The Usual Suspects
Last of the Mohicans
The Piano
Any Lethel Weapon film
Edward Scissorhands
Bugsy Malone
The Blues Brothers
Platoon
Saving Private Ryan
Braveheart
Any of The Matrix films

Excuse me, I must go now and watch some of these moo-vies you speak of.


*Answer: Be a Jude Law**

** although in Christian circles, probably best not to sleep with a girl before you actually know her name.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Weird Wednesday

It’s a weird feeling seeing the next person interview for your job. Not that I ever had an interview for this job, (actually, not that I would even get an interview for this job) but it's still weird. That said, whoever the lucky candidate is will never be as super organised (ha!) or be able to deal so brilliantly with Nicky’s swearing, beltching, farting and general rudeness. Neither will they be able to stumble over answering the phone as brilliantly as me (just recently for some reason I have it in my head that I work for the Department of Education which causes me to pause at 'Hello, Department of...').

You’ll be pleased to hear that I am feeling much better than last week. Man, I sounded pissed off on Friday. Since then I spent the weekend mostly in my jammies, except for a short spell on Saturday when I went to class (so industrious). I did manage to come up with a theme for the first part of my coursework which is good, and have worked on several photos already in my collection which with the help of Photoshop will look amazing.

Christmas is well underway, I watched two Christmas films at the weekend to help with the Christmas cheer but as yet nothing has been bought. I know what I’m going to buy most people and I’m just determining where is the cheapest place to get them, probably tinternet so best get a move on with that.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Something funny about/for Nicky*

I haven’t written at all this week. I haven’t been in a particularly witty mood and have done nothing of note since I last wrote. I am teetering on the edge of being sick, and two nights this week I was in bed by 8.00pm. I've been grumpy and in foul form most of the week, with small things leading to me getting thoroughly pissed off. I am so not ready for Christmas it’s not even funny, and as for going away, forget it. It’s one of those things where there is so much to do I don’t know where to start. I only have eight days left in work and there is still a lot I need to do there too. Here's hoping for a productive weekend to lift the mood.

*He told me to write ‘something funny’ either about him or for him, I can’t remember which. Due the aforementioned mood/tiredness this is all I can muster.

Friday, December 01, 2006

National Izzy Day

Today is my car's birthday. Two today. I celebrated by washing her (cars are not naturally girls, like in a typical country way, 'she's got a flat battery', but mine is called Izzy so therefore is a girl).


The during shot. I didn't think it was as bad as this photo would made it appear but I cannot recall another time I washed my car this year, and it's definitely the only time since I came home, so it must have been. I was out tonight and I must say it's nice to see in the wing mirrors and to see that the headlights are actually on.

Here's to many more happy motoring miles!
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