Peaceful Sunday....

...well actually it's not THAT peaceful as I have the MotoGP on the telly so the living room is filled with the sound of revving engines.

Yesterday Juell took us off to Dovedale which was very very very nice. She knew I'd been having problems not getting out into the country enough so decided last week that she'd take us out to frolick in the country.

We started the day with muffins (and orange choc-chip icecream for me) and then walked up to the Dove Holes caves. Then we wandered back again. We paddled and looked in caves and took pictures and got drizzled on and laughed lots and lots. Then when we got back we all had icecreams and then drove to Ashbourne for a quick look round the market (I bought an old-fashioned dish mop) and then lunch.

Then we headed home through a small thunderstorm as Biz had to go to work at 10 (night-shifts).

A very very nice day, the nicest day I've spent in the country since we went camping in May really! I have taken pictures, but haven't got the time to faff with uploading them at the moment so will do it another day. I have Wednesday off so will try to do it then.

Ok, time to do more washing-up, laundry and then snuggle with the kittens and sew while I watch the Grand Prix.

I think I'm being hinted at...

Emily sent me this link - Bloggen.

I think she's hinting that I'm not posting enough.

So, just for her...

Today my teacher was listening to a radio program about art on the African subcontinent. She was a little shocked by the whole thing, so she started telling my friend Miguel about it, and he was all:

"No way!.. Oh man! I love the African subcontinent so much!"

But then when my teacher got to the part about the art, Miguel subsided and began sobbing. But then the next day, Miguel's uncle told me that the reason Miguel was so freaked out was because he was watching about art on TV. At times Miguel can be quite weird like that, but all he cares about is my own good...

Link of the day: Blackout Pics | Randomly generated by Flooble Instant Blog Post Generator

Happy now Emily? You made Miguel cry!

Anyhoo, I have actually been doing things this week.

I ordered some stuff from FLYLady last Wednesday and it arrived Tuesday morning (very, very good shipping from the USA!) and so I've been playing with all that. I got my Control Journal, but haven't done anything with it yet - plus it's got three holes in, not useful in the UK where everything is 2 or 4, so I have to find a hole punch. The Saving Dinner book seems ok, but trying to work out what everything is in English could take a while. Phoenix is just going through it looking for things that look do-able, then I need to find a website that will tell me what the UK equivalents will be.

The calendar and stickers are very, very groovy. The calendar is up (it runs from Aug '05 til Dec '06) and family birthdays, green box (recycling) days and miscellaneous things like work and wrestling are on there already. I'm still going to be buying my DiscWorld calendar for next year though. I don't know what I'd do without it.

Speaking of DiscWorld, roll on October! TWO new DiscWorld books! WOO-HOO! Ahem. Yes, I'm excited, and no, I'm not embarrassed about that fact.

Ok, now I've hopefully written enough to stop emails from sisters whose lives are much more exciting that mine, I shall go off and work on reaching level 26 on WoW.

Yes, I know...

...but I have been rather busy this week!

I have been reevaluating a lot of things and realised I was holding on to a whole load of "stuff" that I really should say goodbye to. So I have been sorting stuff out and working my way through things.

I finally bought a book that first came to my attention last year (!) when it fell on my head at work. Since then it's kept cropping up but I've looked at it and just thought "next month" but this time I trusted my vibes (lol) and bought the thing. Unusually for a non-fiction book I read it straight through and I'm now working my way back through it doing the exercises etc.

I have next week off so shall try to update on here everyday, if only to tell you what cleaning I've been doing as I'm going to start working with FLYlady again. Not bad for a suggestion which started as a joke email, it's actually working for me!

Right, I'm off for yet another relaxing evening - they're happening a lot this week and it's a fabulous change!

2 hours and 25 minutes

That's how long it took me to read the new Potter (1.53am - 4.18am).

Very, very, very good.

The death is a shock and also has the same "nah they're not really dead" feel about it as Sirius's in Order of the Phoenix.

The Half-Blood Prince is a real shock, I couldn't believe that it was that character.

Hermione and Ron row a lot, Ron gets a girlfriend (not Hermione), Harry gets a new girlfriend (also not Hermione, she does get to snog someone though), There's both a new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher AND a new POTIONS teacher, and it's a lot more grown-up than the last one and not quite so angry.

I would write more but I'm aware that a) no one else has read it yet and I don't want to spoil it for them, and b) I have had two and a half hours sleep and need to work on waking myself up before work!

Plus, I want to finish reading my new Mike Ripley book!

Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry POTTER!

(as in nana-nana-nana-nana-nana-nana-nana-nana-BATMAN!)

Quotes from today:

"No it's published tomorrow"
"It's published tomorrow and we are open at midnight for 1 hour"
"It's published tomorrow and it's £11.99"
"It's published tomorrow"
"No we haven't been allowed to read it yet"
"No we can't give out any early copies"
"Books about Wolverhampton? Just over there in local interest."

Yes, he's due tomorrow. Yes, I have touched one of the books (I touched the corner of a cover). Yes, I do plan to stay up all night reading it.

In other news, my sister is here, I bought the new Mike Ripley book and Emily has confirmed that the kitties are cute.

See you tomorrow!

What a load of bollocks!

Evil Harry Potter day cancelled

Another example of the "open-minded" Church of England then.

Tears

They're announcing names of the bomb victims on the BBC and have just confirmed that two of the missing are dead. It's silly cos it's been five days and you know that if they could get in touch they would have done. But these two were the two I heard about first, the two that I first focused on when I started sending energy, so it hurts.

The BBC's Missing page gives so many more names today than it has before. I knew there would be Essex folks on it, but it really brings it home how close Matt was when I read that one of the missing is from Billericay. It means I can visualise her exact journey, right the way through from walking over the station bridge that smells of the paint from playgroup, standing on the station waiting for the train to come round the corner, and the whole journey into London.

May you move on in peace and dignity to a world that is free of pain, and may you know that those who never met you, love you.

Added 4/8/05.

Carrie Taylor. Yup, I was at primary school with her, in fact I think she was a friend of a friend back then. Brings it closer again dammit.

Ok, what!!!

Harry Potter sold early in Canada

I want to know just how they could put it on sale, have they been paying NO attention! It doesn't even sound like a small store, plus how come they've got copies that early we're not getting ours til late on Friday!

Now I wish Emily was still in Canada, cos she'd probably have been in the right place to buy one!

Bliggity, Bloggity, Boo!

I don't quite know where that title came from.

Had a long phone call with my sister on Sunday night where we discussed the state of the world and her forthcoming visit to Wolverhampton (don't even know how to begin trying to spell that in an Essex accent).

She complained that I don't write in my blog enough, so I pointed out that I don't have a very exciting life. In fact, it usually just consists of: get up, walk to work, work, break, work, lunch, work, walk home, go on computer, do some writing, watch some TV, go to bed. Apparently this is more exciting than her life at the moment (get up, watch TV, go to pub, go clubbing) so I must write in my blog more.

So.....

I didn't have work yesterday cos I worked Sunday, and I don't have work today because I'm working Saturday due to the little-known publication of a book apparently called Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Apparently it's quite good. Oh, I know I'm not kidding anyone. I will be working at midnight, buy my book at the end, take it home and read it, get a few hours kip and then go to work again. Last time I started reading at about 1.40am and finished just before 6. (I can't remember the exact times, but I know it was just before 6 cos I had an hours kip before I had to get up for work). I want this one to be a longer book, but at the same time I don't. The number of complaints we've had because Order of the Phoenix was so thick, like we could do anything about it! Also if it's longer I won't get any sleep!

There's not a whole lot I can say about the events in London on Thursday. I'd had Wednesday off and watched all the Olympics stuff and though great. Then spent Thursday at work with RitchieFingers trying to tune in a very old radio so we had some news and looking at A-Z's to work it all out. I worried about a few people I know who work down there, especially Emily Jones who works right in the middle of it all, but I've heard that they're all ok which is more great than I can express. The BBC have been keeping me updated on everything and have highlighted some of the other fabulous bloggers out there so go read this and be as proud of London, Londoners and the British Spirit in general as I am. (Although the phrase British Spirit always sounds a bit pants and never manages to describe the way that people react.)

I'm playing lots of World of Warcraft still, but have got past the dreaming it at night stage now (which happens with everything new that I do, not just computer games BTW), I'm just in the "doing it for real" stage instead. I did have one particularly annoying customer on Sunday that I wanted to use several finishing moves on (I'm tidying the tables and he's walking round behind me DELIBERATELY messing them up again "to keep you girls earning your money". Bastard) but Campbell distracted me before I could BackStab him and then finish him off with a Gouge/Eviscerate combo.

I'm also attempting to complete listing my library (and keep not finding books I know I own but have had people borrow and then not return grrrr) and to finish off the wedding pictures.

Hopefully that's a long enough entry to keep Emily quiet (and boring enough that she won't hassle me for a couple of days) and now I shall get back to having great ideas on what to write about, and then promptly forgetting it as soon as I get near the PC.

Well I'm working on it...

Saturdays Horoscope:

If you have had some problems in your sentimental life during past months, KATE, they are probably now behind you. It's a sure bet that you have learned something. Here it's been years that you have been served the same dish, and now it seems you've finally had enough! Know that from now on you will be better about not falling into the same old traps.

Well I don't know if it's my sentimental life or not, but the level of bullshit has fallen rapidly since I thought "Why the fuck am I bothering with that/them?"

Harry Potter comes out in a week, my sister is coming to visit too!

Yep, I'm at it again.

I'm so bad at posting when I say I will (plus I have emails I need to answer) but life is sooo busy!

I'm reorganising the house in stages, doing Su Doku between laundry loads, cataloguing my books (and tearing my hair out trying to remember who's borrowed what), writing thankyou letters to my wedding guests and then Phoenix went and bought World of Warcraft and either he's been playing or I have (I'm Petronella, currently a Level 11 Rogue). It's great fun but rather addictive. I say things like "Just let me finish this quest and then I'll do whatever" and then the quest takes ages or it leads onto doing more things.
I do recommend the game, but only if you have spare time and a sympathetic partner who will understand you talking about Gnolls ears and bandit armbands!

Oh, bedtime (very early compared to last three nights at 1.30am - but we have work tomorrow) and I shall stay off the PC in the morning or I'd definately be late for work.

Now then, where's that Su Doku book, I'll just do a couple before I go to bed......