Meltdown Redacted

In the continuing adventures of Living With a Boy, this week sees our heroine overreact slightly to a messy house, bewilder her boyfriend and try to come to terms with the fact that hey, people are different. Some people like bins to be emptied when they are full, and some people can either ignore the fact that they are full or just plain not notice it at all. Some people like washing to be placed in a laundry basket, others are happy to have it spewing all over the place in IKEA bags. Some people like to get the boring and annoying chores out of the way before relaxing, others prefer to play Skyrim. It’s a mad mad world full of opposites, and sometimes you end up living with one.

It’s cool, the meltdown is over, we are back to liking each other again now. He’ll try to do better with the chores, and I’ll try not to care so much. We can all blame my mother for raising a child that cares about a neat and tidy house. Did you hear that Mum? It’s all your fault! (Not really. I love you. Don’t hate me. Thanks for bringing me up right.)

Moving on from domestic (non) bliss, today is my last day at work for THREE WEEKS. I am immensely giddy about this. (So much so that it took me four attempts to spell immensely correctly. Ye gods). Hardly anyone is in the office today and in half an hour I will be the only one left, so work? HAH! I shall eat all my advent calendar chocolate and that is that. I may also drink quite a lot of tea.

I’m really looking forward to Christmas, but then I always do. Time off, good food, surrounded by loved ones…it’s great. I shall be going to Yorkshire next week to spend the festive season with my family. There are two turkeys in the back garden waiting to be eaten. I don’t know which one gets to be ours. Maybe I could pardon one, like they do in the States?

I might post again before the big day but if not, Merry Christmas all!

Online

Oh hey look, I am sitting in my flat, on my computer, on the internet!! We are finally hooked up again. And we have TV! With TiVo! I have no idea how to use TiVo, but I will be an expert shortly and never miss a programme ever again. I have missed having telly, just being able to have it on in the background or flick through channels when I’m bored. DVDs are fine, but you have to commit to watching them, at least attempt to focus.

Now that everything is working I’m very happy with Virgin Media, but I was less happy earlier in the day as I sat about waiting for them to arrive. My time slot was 8am to 1pm, so I got up just in case they came first thing. That pretty much guaranteed he wouldn’t of course. He rang at 12.30 to say he’d be half an hour, ‘or somewhere around there’. By this point I was bored out of my skull. I even did my ironing. He finally showed up at 2pm. He was very lovely and it was a quick install as the tenants before us had had Virgin, but I could have done other things with my morning. Like sleep. Like an epic lie in. That would have been fabulous.

Anyway, it’s all done now and I can go back to spending hours on the internet and commenting on things and watching video without a content lock (thanks T-Mobile). It’s fantastic.

Moved

I live with a boy now. Five days and it’s going well. Obviously we’re in the clear! Pfft, it is totally the honeymoon period. Max seems genuinely thrilled everyday with my presence which is amusing and also lovely, of course. We have spent a week in each other’s company before though, on holidays, so it’s week two, three and beyond we have to worry about. Although if I can survive a week or so living out of suitcases with my crap everywhere then I’m sure it will all be fine. And having someone to download all my programmes so I can watch them on the HUGE tv helps. As does his little morning booty dance, even though I try to ignore it and go back to sleep. Why is he always in such a good mood in the mornings? It’s not normal is it? Usually I don’t like to be around people until I’ve had my breakfast, because I’m a morning grumpus, but when you live with Hyperactive Man that’s nigh on impossible.

I moved in on Sunday having finally found a man and van that could do that day and who did in fact show up. I had moved most of my boxes down the stairs already to be helpful and also not make it be longer than a two hour job to cut costs (we ended up doing the whole thing in just over an hour). And because I was up and ready by 11am but hadn’t booked the dude til 2pm. I did try to help him move my big bookcase but it turned out he didn’t need me at all and I was just in the way. He was strong. And then we got to Max’s and he helped us unload and then had to go to work. He’s working stupid hours at the moment, so I don’t actually see that much of him.

We’ll be moving into our new place some time next week. I’m looking forward to having access to all my stuff again, and not having to worry about moving constantly. It’ll be nice to be settled again, but Max’s house isn’t so bad really. He makes me tea, what more can you ask for?

Awesome!

 

Massive bout in April, and tickets go on sale this weekend. So excited! More details about the event here.

Birthday Weekend!

My birthday this year was lovely, and thanks to various celebrations seems to have gone on for a week, which is extra nice. I went home this weekend to see the family and have them love me lots. We had beautiful weather, which makes a change and meant our barbecue could go ahead as planned.

But before the party could start I needed to go shopping. Yes, shopping, that hateful word. But miracles do happen, and it wasn’t actually that bad. I even bought stuff! Quite a bit of stuff! I now have jeans that fit (wow, what a revelation), 2 pairs even, t-shirts, underwear and a new bag. It was worth the trip and it was a good thing I took my big case home with me.

So yes, barbecue. All the family was there, we had lovely food and people got drunk. Ah family. My cousins wanted to watch the Britain’s Got Talent final, and since I am lovely I let them. Then half of us were in the living room cheering people on. Although I haven’t seen any of it and only know about Susan Boyle, who was totally overrated and is now in The Priory of all things. I did like Diversity though. But having watched it I was a bit stunned. This is the final, that means these are the best of the bunch? Good lord, some were rubbish. That little kid, Shaveen(?) right wound me up.

Earlier in the day Russ had said he’d put a bet on for me on the football, since he was going anyway, and what did I think the score would be? So I told him and I won! I don’t really like having to cheer Chelsea on, but I won 16 quid. Ha. Russ did not win. Double ha.

And now I’m back in London, and back at work. If only time could slow down as you got older, instead of speeding up.

Zip It

Enough with the whiny crap. My birthday celebrations continued with a meal out with friends and dessert at Ben’s Cookies, and I also got cupcakes as a gift. Birthdays rock!

Also, here is a picture of the Pirate Zippy Max won me on Sunday.

He’s pretty cool right? Kinda massive, but cool. I especially like him since his T shirt matches my Goonies Never Say Die shirt.

For those who don’t know, (and how can you not?!) Zippy is a character from a beloved children’s TV show of the 80s, Rainbow. Zippy was fairly loud and annoying but lovable I suppose.

Tomorrow I am only working half a day and then I’m going home to Yorkshire for the weekend. Ah, bliss.

A Grand Day Out

I have had such a good day. It’s been lovely. First of all it’s been beautiful and hot and sunny and I’ve felt like I’ve been on holiday. Second of all I went to Chessington World of Adventures. It was fun!

I wasn’t exactly thrilled when my alarm went off this morning at 7 though. Did not want to get up, but once there and in the sunshine I was happy. We hit the zoo/aquarium first. The stingrays put their faces (?) out of the water and come right up to you. And there’s an underwater tunnel. Oh and then outside, meerkats! And little monkeys and you can walk around with them out of their cages.

Then we went to the rides. The Hocus Pocus Hall didn’t offer much except a chance to wear unnecessary silly 3D glasses. But the mirror maze was cool. The Tomb Blaster ride was quite boring. You’re supposed to fire at things to score points while on a ‘scary’ ride. Not scary at all. Quite yawn inducing. I would say it’s to be expected as it’s a very kiddie friendly park, but this wouldn’t even scare kids.

Next we went on what is possibly my fave ride of the day, The Rattlesnake. Oh how I mocked it. Look how crappy it looks. Puh, it’ll be a nice gentle ride…holy shit! I think I left my stomach back there. The problem was it looked so old and rickety that you felt like you were going to be hurled off the side at any minute. And it jerks on purpose, so you’re high up and it careens around bends and then up and down drops until you can’t catch your breath, and then it just STOPS! Ugh. We went on twice. The second time was less scary as we knew what to expect, but it had just broken down with some poor sods trapped halfway round, so there was added fear factor.

The log flume offered a short lived but much needed cool down, and the Runaway Train wasn’t very runaway. The Vampire, while a cool ride (a less scary Nemesis-like ride), was the longest queue, and was not really worth the hour+ we stood about baking.

The park wasn’t that busy at all, which I was really surprised about, and since we got there early we didn’t have to queue much at all. We didn’t get to go on the Dragon’s Fury as it kept breaking down, but it may be for the best since it went sideways at one point and I’m sure I’d have been scared. The staff there were really impressive too, really nice and helpful, and friendly but not in that fake ‘Have a nice day’ way. I really recommend the place for a chilled and fun day out.

At the end of the day Max wanted to win me a stuffed animal, so we went to this booth where you had to throw balls into cups. Depending on what colour the cup was the ball landed in, you got a prize. To get a big prize you had to hit a blue cup. There were only two of these, and so of course Max aimed for them. He got ten balls and missed them all. The guy running the booth took pity on him and gave him one last go. And he did it!! So I now have a giant Pirate Zippy to call my own. It also meant I had to carry PZ on public transport home. I got some funny looks, and also a few shouts of ‘Pirate Zippy!’ He’s very cuddly, and since I don’t have anyone to snuggle right now, PZ will have to do.

I am totally overdosed on sugar and sun, and being thrown about all day has left me with a headache and shattered, so I think an early night is due. Very glad no work tomorrow!!

But my day was excellent.

Swear On Your Life

On Wednesday night I went to see The Graham Norton Show. It was fabulously funny, along with the usual embarrassing audience participation bits which make me want to bury my head in my armpit until it’s all over. I don’t watch this show anymore, and I’m not sure why seeing as I find Graham quite funny, probably because I don’t watch much on actual telly these days. Happily we were sitting over to one side with a decent view but away from any possibility of being made to do anything or caught on camera, so even if you tuned in you wouldn’t see me anywhere.

The guests were Katie Price/Jordan and Peter Andre, and Jimmy Carr. I was unimpressed when I heard about Peter and Jordan, because I’d have liked someone a bit more celeb-like (proper famous as opposed to reality tell-all famous), but actually, they were brilliant. Peter is fairly one note, mostly looking glum or straight faced, sitting next to his wife quietly, every now and then interjecting a story or line that’s supposed to be funny but generally just bombs. He’s nice enough though, in his shiny shiny shirt. Jordan is better at the humour, very dry, and also totally dirty and if she could just possibly clean up the things she says ever so slightly I’d like her a lot more. I know that’s who she is but the woman has no filter whatsoever, or any idea of what’s appropriate. I suppose she lives her life completely on show, so we might as well see every thought she has going through her brain as well.

Peter told the story of how, when going into the jungle for I’m a Celebrity… he had the option of a luxury item. He initially wanted to take hair gel, but decided on something else, then thought it would be a good idea to smuggle it in. In cling film. Up his bum. Which rendered it useless anyway as it was all runny…yeah, thanks for that image. How can you need hair gel that badly? The best bit, which will probably be cut out as it went on FOREVER, was Peter and Katie bickering about Pete’s Twittering and leaving his account logged in so Katie saw everything he was doing, which involved another woman, and there was much ‘I never did anything!’ and ‘Swear on your life’ going on, until they cleared the air by clutching each other’s little fingers in a sort of pinky swear. Very cute.

Jimmy Carr was funny too, but really didn’t get a chance to get a word in most of the time.

It was on TV last night and watching it was a bit weird, like watching a repeat. It was great fun being in the audience though, so if you’re in London you should get tickets and go.

Good vs Bad

Bad Thing: My Friday sucked, big time. I hurt my toe, my bus terminated before my stop, I got caught in traffic so it took me an hour and a half to get to work, the photocopier was basically dead…it went on and on and on.

Good Thing: My weekend was much nicer. Saturday I went round to a friend’s house and a group of us watched films, ate junk food, and did crafts. No we’re not 90… And Sunday me and another friend cooked a proper Sunday dinner, and my Yorkshire puds were fab.

Bad Thing: I had a migraine yesterday.

Good Thing: My tablets worked so I felt no major pain, just kinda weird and out of it for a while.

Bad Thing: My bag broke the other day.

Good Thing: In cleaning out my old bag and moving the stuff over to a new one, I found three Waterstone’s gift cards. I took them in today to see if they had money on them, not expecting much, and had enough to buy:

• All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy (seeing as I loved The Road so)

• The Other Hand – Chris Cleave

• The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield

• December – Elizabeth H. Winthrop

I have no idea if the last three are any good. They were on the three for two piles and sometimes half the fun in buying books is just going with your gut and hoping you’ve made good choices. We shall see.

Good Thing: My colleagues are back from the US and have brought lots of goodies, including my favourite cookies (other than Ben’s of course), Pepperidge Farm chocolate chunk. I shouldn’t eat much chocolate, since my head is not totally recovered, but you know, sometimes you have to take the bullet.

I think the good won this round.

(How many times did I have to edit this entry? Too many. Blame my poorly head.)

Bookcases and Nutcases

I have a new love, ladies and gentlemen…but we’ll get to that in a minute.

My weekend was pretty great, if a little full. I was already exhausted by Saturday night. Not that I’d done anything too strenuous, but I hadn’t had my Saturday morning lie in. And I need my lie in people. But getting up was worth it. Saturday was the fourth annual London bookswap. Lots of friends (internet and real life) get together to swap their unwanted books (people come all the way from Scotland!). And we have lunch and eat cakes. It’s lovely. There were lots of us this time and so squeezing around a table heaving with books wasn’t easy. There are rules so people don’t just stand by the best spot the whole time. Everyone gets a fair shot. I came away with six, which is a bit of a record for me, as usually I leave with way more than I brought. I went home feeling sleepy but also buzzing from an overdose of sugar.

On Sunday I got to spend time with a beautiful baby girl. She’s brand new (well, a week) and gorgeous and tiny and I got to have cuddles, which fills my baby fix quota for a while.

OK, now we come to the love. Don’t judge me when I tell you it’s an inanimate object. It’s a bookcase. Yes, I know it’s pretty crazy to be so happy over a bookcase. But you don’t get it, these are my books! And they were sitting on the floor! And shoved in a corner. That’s just not right. They need to be looked after. And so now, instead of looking like this:

My shelves are ordered loveliness:

And instead of my drawers heaving under all their crap:

They are tidy and crap-free:

All I need to do now is put my new lampshade up, and I’m done. My room looks very nice and organised, and it’s stopped making me feel twitchy. I can stand mess to a point, and then it’s got to go!