Friday, June 30, 2006

Going Grey

I blame Jazz and Amanda for talking about this recently.

I just found my first grey hair!

While I'm not bothered about it, I am a bit flabbergasted since I'm only 25.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Wimbledon

There is no better weather forecast than the start of Wimbledon.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Plasters! Stat!

I went on a training course today to renew my first aid qualification. It was quite fun actually. A lot of practical, hands-on stuff, like putting people in the recovery position and bandaging them up! My favourite, though, is practising CPR. You practise the rescue breaths and chest compressions on a dummy (called Annie), because it's probably a bit awkward to practise on your fellow classmates. But fun! If I ever have to do it in real life, I hope I remember what I'm doing, but I seemed to be quite good at it in a controlled environment at least.

I'm going to see Avenue Q on Monday! I've been going on about this show for over a year, but I completely forgot about it. I knew I was going, but it always seemed like forever away and it just kind of sneaked up on me. I was going to post my friend a soundtrack I copied for her because I thought I wasn't going to see her for weeks, then she pointed out to me that I'm seeing her on Monday. I don't know where my head is lately. But, for now, I can't wait for Monday! Eeee!

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Fortunate Fool?

I have either just been a good samaritan or been taken for a fool. It would depend who you're talking to. My mum, for instance, would say I was being kind, but my dad would get exasperated with me for being so gullible.

I was walking home from the tube station tonight when I came up on this young guy, maybe late teens, talking to a couple in the street. I was listening to my iPod so couldn't hear what was being said, but it was clear the boy was upset. The couple turned to walk away, and as I got closer, the boy motioned for my attention. He asked me if I knew where the nearest Salvation Army was and I replied I didn't. It was now that I noticed he was crying. He turned to walk away, but I asked him what was wrong. He had quite a thick accent, so I couldn't make out everything he said, but the gist was that he'd lost his wallet and the police said there was nothing they could do. I said I was really sorry and he walked away.

That would probably have been the end of it, but he was walking in my direction. As I kept my distance from him walking in front, I saw him stop a couple more people to ask for the Sally Ann and get more and more agitated. As I caught up with him, I couldn't take it anymore. I offered him £5 to get a train or bus or whatever he needed to get home. He wasn't going to take it, but I insisted. He wanted to send it back to me, so I was going to give him a business card (I may be a fool, but I'm not about to give a stranger my home address!). Unfortunately, I didn't have any of my own handy and only had a colleague's, so I scribbled out his details (name, phone number, email, etc) so that it only had the address left and gave it to him.

Now I know he could very well have been a con artist, but you know what? I don't care! If it was the real deal, hopefully he'll get home without too much bother and I feel good for having helped someone out. If it was a con, I'm out £5. It's not exactly going to bankrupt me. I feel bad about giving out a colleague's business card to a stranger (I hope I managed to scribble out his details ok), but that's about it.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Happy Father's Day

A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again.
~Enid Bagnold

Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes.
~Gloria Naylor

Any man can be a father but it takes someone special to be a dad.
~ Anne Geddes

The father of a daughter is nothing but a high-class hostage. A father turns a stony face to his sons, berates them, shakes his antlers, paws the ground, snorts, runs them off into the underbrush, but when his daughter puts her arm over his shoulder and says, 'Daddy, I need to ask you something,' he is a pat of butter in a hot frying pan.
~ Garrison Keillor

My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
~ Clarence Budington Kelland

Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance.
~ Ruth E. Renkel

To her the name of father was another name for love
~ Fanny Fern


We may not shower him with praise
Nor mention his name in song,
And sometimes it seems that we forget
The joy he spreads as he goes along,
But it doesn’t mean that we don’t know
The wonderful role that he has had.
And away down deep in every heart
There’s a place that is just for Dad


~ Author Unknown



Happy Father's Day, Dad. I love you too!

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

From London to Berlin

I am such a typical Scot. Temperatures in London hit 32°C (90°F) yesterday. Waaaaayyyy too hot for little old me. To be fair, as soon as the temperatures start climbing to the early to mid-20s, I'm searching for a shady corner to curl up in with a fan. I'm not cut out for heat. I like bad weather. I like rain and wind and snow and cold. You do get summer weather in Scotland, but it only lasts for about a week.

I watched the first episode of Big Love on channel 5 last night. I was intrigued when Min was talking about it in her Blurty, and then noticed that it was starting over here, so thought I'd give it a go. It's....interesting. I'm not entirely sure what I think about it, but it caught my attention enough to make me want to watch next week, which I guess is the ultimate goal. But Beaver! I miss Beaver!

I've got World Cup fever, as does everyone else in this city. It's pretty good being in London for stuff like this when England do well, even though I'm not English. So far, I've done the Rugby World Cup 2003 and Euro 2004, and the atmosphere is electric. There's also been the cricket, but while the guys in my office get obsessed with it, I can't bring myself to care.

I was in a pub on Saturday watching the England game (supporting England I might add) and it was disappointing for a number of reasons, the main one being the discomfort I felt at being surrounded by drunk England fans. This particular crowd seemed a bit yobbish. I overheard several racist comments about a bunch of Middle Eastern guys standing at the back because they weren't singing along with the songs, despite the fact they were wearing England strips and obviously supporting them. Then the anti-German and Scottish comments and songs started and my discomfort quadrupled. I really couldn't get out of there quick enough. Now, before anyone starts, I know that this happens in Scotland as well. I've been at plenty of Scottish sporting events when anti-English songs have been sung and that's wrong too. But I've heard people say that it's just Scottish fans that are anti-English and it's not the other way round, but that's wrong. It's not all English fans, just like it's not all Scottish fans, but it does happen. And when you're a Scot living in London at a time like this, it can be really exciting, but also a bit disconcerting,

What else? I'm going to see Avenue Q in a couple of weeks! Yay! And then I'm going to see The Rocky Horror Show a couple of weeks after that! Double yay! And I'll throw in a visit home, in between them, for my dad's birthday for good measure. Triple yay!

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Exam Results

I passed one and failed one. I'm trying to see the positive side of this and ignore the negative (although it is the third fucking time this particular negative has happened!).

But a pass. Yay!

Sort of.

Clearly ths whole positivity thing needs a bit of work.


EDIT - I just found out that I failed by, at most, five marks! Five goddamn marks!

Monday, June 05, 2006

Rule of Thumb

It's strange how you take not being in pain for granted. For example, if you get a mouth ulcer which stings whenever you drink or eat or talk or whatever, you constantly think "I wish I didn't have this ulcer". But when you don't have an ulcer, you don't go around thinking "I'm so glad I don't have an ulcer". Or at least, you might, but it's not a constant thought. You just take it for granted that your mouth isn't in pain. Well, I do anyway.

The latest example of this is my thumb. I staved it at the weekend and it now hurts. I was sitting on the floor and, in my excitement to see Andy with his shirt off (photos forthcoming!), I managed to bend my thumb backwards while trying to stand up. It was sore at the time, but the pain went away that night, so I thought it was ok. But when I woke up the next morning, it was throbbing. The throbbing has gone away, but it aches when I try to move it which, considering it's my thumb, is all the time! It hurts to grip anything and it's surprising how often you have to bend your thumb into funny positions to do stuff. Goddamn opposability!

Friday, June 02, 2006

Happy Birthday Kieran!

Today is my beautiful nephew's birthday. He is three years old today. Three?! How did that happen? I still remember the day my sister was in labour, when I called my mum every hour for news. How can he be three already?

I posted up his birthday presents on Tuesday and they arrived on Wednesday morning. After they took the brown parcel paper off and Kieran saw the Bob the Builder wrapping paper, he got all excited. He asked if he could open them now, but my sister told them that he'd be able to open them after two sleeps. "Okay", said Kieran, "I'm going to bed". So cute!

I know I post a lot about Kieran and Lewis, which may be a bit strange since they're not actually my children, but it's because they really are a big part of my life. My family has always been very close, so it stands to reason that I adore my nephews. Whenever I think about them, I smile. Anything that does that to you should be celebrated.