Alien Spouse

My Commitment to Further Education.

At lunch time I spent a couple of hundred dollars on the text books I need for my MA course, and now I think perhaps I should also have looked for a decent time management book.  Taking today as an example I have been doing something or other since 6:15 this morning, and I need to streamline my day somewhere.  I mean obviously I need to keep the working, the reading, the sleeping, the exercising, the eating, and the scooping-litter-trays, so what does that leave that is inessential?  Well, I'm thinking breathing and, believe me this really hurts, but I think it might also be time to cut back on... the internet.

Don't worry I will ALWAYS make time to blog, but I really have to cut down on my random web surfing.  I've already got an extensive selection of blogs and websites that I peruse regularly, but I just cannot add any more to that, and some may have to fall by the wayside.  Much though I love it, I don't need to read "Overheard in New York" every day, I think I can cut that back to just once a week, and I've already stopped looking at "Stuff on My Cat", can you believe that?  "Stuff on My Cat" was what the internet was invented for, and I've gone cold turkey on it.  Weird.  Although it does help that it's not as good as it used to be, the cats are obviously still completely fabulous, but the quality of the stuff on them and the captions describing the picture have really gone down hill recently.

This is where Twitter, Netvibes and Instapaper are going to be invaluable.  Twitter gives me fun sized snippets of data through out the day, Netvibes keeps my internet nicely organised as well as telling me when there have been new posts on my favourite sites and finally InstaPaper means I can save interesting things to my iPod to read when I have more time.  It's a three-pronged internet attack plan, and I intend to use it ruthlessly.

Be warned internet, I will be taking no nonsense.

With a Smashing Jaffa Orangey Bit.

Very exciting news.  Today I found something that looks not entirely unlike Jaffa Cakes on the packaging, the box even declares them to be "European Biscuits" which is reassuring.

I have yet to actually try one of these yet, but I'm really quite hopeful.

Crochet Frenzy Succesfull!

My amigurumi project is complete!  Now all I have to do is to get these little guys to France by Saturday, in time for Rowan and Nairn's wedding.  I am so disappointed that I'll be missing this wedding myself, but I am determined to be represented by my crochet.

Of course I've taken photos, but I really think the bride and groom see their Mini-Me cake toppers first.

Nice Quiet Saturday.

Saturdays are particularly nice when you don't really have to be anywhere aren't they?

This morning we slept in late, and then Doc cooked me a lovely breakfast.  Then we took out the recycling, before we did some shopping.  I needed to exchange a skein of silk and buy some beads, whilst I was in the yarn shop I bought "Stitch 'N Bitch Nation" and spent this afternoon in a crochet frenzy, watching "Dead Like Me" on Hulu whilst the cats rolled around in a patch of sun.  Now we're watching the dramatisation of "Grey Gardens", and it's so fabulous.

I love Saturdays!

Really Important Bits of Paper.

This afternoon I hand-delivered documents to Human Resources and the Graduate School that confirm which courses I'll be taking for my MA and request a fee waiver because I'm a university staff member.  Yay for free university courses!

At the same time I also took the letter I recently received from the Immigration Service, which acknowledges receipt of my application for my visa to be extended.  This is because my initial visa was for two years, and it runs out at the end of October.  To extend my visa I had to apply 90 days before the expiration date, but not earlier than that.  The letter of receipt is important because it is also an extension of my visa.  The really crucial thing being that it allows me to work and travel for another year, whilst I'm waiting for another letter which will give me an appointment time for biometric processing.  I wanted to make sure that the University had copies of the letter in a couple of different places, so that there are no problems in October with either my paying gig or my continued education.

Funnily enough the graduate director for the English department sympathised with me this week about all of the red tape that I needed to deal with to get onto the English Lit MA program.  Really though that seemed like almost nothing compared with getting and maintaining my alien spouse visa.

It's Not Easy Being Popular.

"Today I showed my students really offensive art and I gave them the finger.  Let's see how many have dropped!"

Takes moment to log into class list.

"None! That's how good I am!"

Feline Film Critic.

Nancy is so adorable, and she is utterly besotted with Doc C at the moment.  I can't blame her, the cat has good taste clearly, but I am slightly jealous of the attention she lavishes on him.

Fortunately I am the main source of one of her favourite toys: Cinema Tickets!

I don't know what it is about them, but all you have to do is wave one at her and she becomes all teeth and claws.  This looks pretty impressive, but actually she's always careful to be gentle when she takes the ticket from me, and reserves her ire for the offending bit of paper.  She wouldn't pose for my photo, but I'll try and get her at her most fearsome.  It's so cute!

This particular ticket was for "The Hangover" and it's actually stood up quite well to a sustained Nancy attack, it is still possible to read most of it.  You should see what she did to the ticket for "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian".  I have no idea what she had against that particular film, unless she really just can't bear Ben Stiller I suppose.

Back to School: Weirdly Yay!

I LOVED my first Eng. Lit. MA class last night.  It was really interesting and my brain was engaged by the discussion.  I know this because when I woke up this morning it wasn't my usual internal monologue of "Ugh! Work!  I really don't feel like it today.  **yawn** " (Nothing against my office it's just I'd prefer to be independently wealthy and spend my days wafting between Cinemas, bookshops & Pilates classes, when I'm not lunching with friends or sleeping), instead I found that I was thinking "Ooh! I wonder if that could also be tied in to perceptions of class structure in 17th Century England?  That would be interesting to do some more research into, hmmm..."

It's just really nice to be learning stuff again, although now I've seen David's syllabus and grading policy I am more nervous about disappointing him.  I really need to buy all of the books on the reading list and just highlight the hell out of them.

Normal Alien Spouse Service Will Resume Shortly

But, right now, I am so freaking tired I can barely watch "Top Chef: Vegas" in bed. 

And I can always watch "Top Chef", even when it doesn't have the added pop of Vegas Baby.

Evening Classes.

Guess where I am right now? Well, ok not right now because I'm setting up a timer delay on this post, but the time that this will be posted? Is this confusing?  Anyway...

This evening I'm taking my first MA class in English Literature, um, Squeeeee!

Wednesdays (6pm - 9pm) will be "Seventeenth Century British Literature" which is being taught by my friend David and Mondays (6pm - 9pm) will be "Bibliography and Research" which is being taught by my friend Jill.

If you're really lucky there might be a photo post after the class (I haven't seen any unusually sized insects today, so don't get too excited), but Edith woke me up at 4 o'clock this morning, damn her, and let us not forget that Wednesdays are also a gym day, so I am predicting I will get home and promptly fall asleep because this will be a v-e-r-y l---o---n---g day. 

Good thing I've had coffee.  Really strong coffee actually, and I might make some tea to take with me to the class.  And I should probably eat something as well, maybe a veggie burrito?

Point being, I am both really tired and over caffeinated, and that means I am barely coherent and I can't work put how to end this post without it just abruptly stopping. 

Sort of like a Neal Stephenson novel, much though I love Neal Stephenson's novels, the way the story just stop drives me crazy.  Have I mentioned that before?  "The Diamond Age", for example, is a rocking good sci-fi novel for the entire way through and then has an ending that annoyed me SO much the first time I read it I was proper cross.  When I re-read it, I was braced for the ending, so it didn't seem that terrible, but the first time I was totally deflated by it.

The End.

HUGE Insect Photo Segues into Children's Literary Allusion.

On the way to the car this evening we encountered a large caterpillar when Doc nearly trod on it.

I'm used to caterpillars in England being relatively small, but this thing was ENORMOUS.   To give you some idea, I took a photo with my hand in the shot for scale and it's only slightly smaller my index finger.  I'd have posted that shot, but this was a bug on a mission and he was moving so fast that I didn't have time to position my hand next to it and get a nice clear picture before the insect undulated out of focus.

This was definitely the best picture I got, but it doesn't convey the sense of urgency with which the caterpillar was moving.  It was as if the Caterpillar and the White Rabbit had swapped roles for the day, and that meant that our Caterpillar friend was late for an important function, whilst the White Rabbit got to chill out on top of a toadstool with a nice hookah pipe for once.  I know, I know, it's a bit lazy to immediately reach for the Lewis Carrol reference, but this thing was so over-sized I could easily have imagined Alice having quite a long chat with him.

Snoozing.

Today was the first day of classes, so naturally it was really hectic in the office all day.  I was extremely glad when lunch time arrived and I could curl up for a nap on Doc's sofa.  I've been cat-napping in Doc's office every weekday over the summer, and it makes my afternoon so much more pleasant.  I can highly recommend a mid-day siesta, if you can find somewhere suitable to lie down for twenty minutes. 

Of course it's also important to set an alarm before you actually go to sleep, and I find that leg warmers will do if you don't have access to a blanket.  I love my leg warmers, and I may have to make myself some more in different colours.  Project!  Ooh, maybe I'll make a matching cowl as well and really embrace that whole "cosy accessories that the eighties forgot" feeling into my wardrobe this winter.

Photos postponed

By the way, I'm not forgetting that I owe you a bunch of photos but this week is going to be hectic so we'll just have to see. I'd probably only be posting photos of the cats anyway, and you already know what they look like. Grey and fluffy, or grey/white and stumpy.

Nobody Likes Me Everybody Hates Me, Think I'll Go and Date Avatars.

Scene: This morning on the way to the gym.

Jen: sigh. I have "Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me, Think I'll Go and Eat Worms" stuck in my head.

Doc: Well I've got "Do You Want to Date My Avatar?" stuck in my head for the 19th day in a row.

Jen: (Heartless laughter, as she was the one who introduced Doc to the song) You are welcome!

And for those of you who don't yet have "...Avatar?" stuck in their heads, here's the video on YouTube.

Come. Join us in repetitively humming the chorus for the next month and a half.

Sunday in the Dining Hall with Freshmen.

I have to go into work this afternoon for an Orientation Dinner for the incoming Freshmen in my department.  On the one hand this meal is interfering with my current Amigurumi frenzy, and OMG I have got to get these finished for Row and Nairn's wedding which is in a couple of weeks now (side note: Squeeeeee!); but on the other hand I ordered the food for the dinner, so I know there is a really good salad and some pumpkin pie.  I also requested plenty of take-away containers, so that the students take food away with them and my department isn't forced to eat left over veggie lasagna for the next month.  It's actually a fairly good lasagna, but I really do not need that much bechamel sauce in my diet.

Anyway, apart from that I'm mostly crocheting like a lunatic to get these Amigurumis finished.  So far I haven't hit any major problems, apart from none of the damn yarn shops being open after 5pm on a weekday.  I mean what if there is a yarn related emergency people?  Won't somebody think of the crocheters?

Very Small Moth.

Usually I'm surprised by how big the insects are round here, but today I saw a teeny tiny moth in the bathroom.  It was so small that the auto focus on my camera couldn't work out what I was trying to take a photo of, so all of my shots were a bit blurry.

Still, you can see that it's about the same size as one of the polka dots on the shower curtain.  My thumbs in there to give the camera something to focus on, and to provide another size comparison.  I didn't squish the little guy, he's still flitting around the bathroom, doing his mothy thing.

Afternoon Horror Festival.

One of the things that I will never quite understand about American television scheduling is why it is completely alright to show both "Saw" and "Saw II" at 3 in the afternoon, and retain all of the gore and nasty people doing horrible things to each other, but bleep all the swearing out.  It's totally bizarre!  I'd be more concerned that an impressionable young mind would accidentally stumble across the gallons of blood, than the perfectly justified bad language.

Well, that and I'd worry that they would think the "Saw" franchise was scary, rather than sort of like watching unpleasant paint dry to not quite the colour you were planning.

Edith! Crazier Than Ever!

We call this her "Crazy Boots" face.  I'm sure you can see why.

Edith Comes Home.

Edith is so pleased to be back with us that, when I got home from work, she actually miaowed at me.  Twice!  I know! Amazing!

The vet gave us special food for her, and, even more fun, laxative paste.  Oh great. The instructions on the packaging says that the owner "... place a small amount on paw - cat will lick his paw and become accustomed to the pleasant taste."

Well either that, or she will run all over the living room shaking her paw, and end up with a big glob of the stuff hanging from her underarm fur. 

One or the other.

Fresh Blood.

Today was Move-In day for the freshman students.

Based on my research, conducted whilst assisting carrying loads of stuff to dorm rooms, I would estimate that the campus levels of yoga mats has been increased by 25%, flat screen TVs by 65%, well loved childhood bunnies by 15% and really short shorts exponentially. 

It's also at least five times louder, and our studies indicate most of that is really terrible music.

Pre-Dinner Snack: Blueberries.

Edith's Been Admitted Overnight.

Poor Edith!  Her visit to the vet was a lot less fun than usual, she was poked, prodded, had her temperature taken, blood work done and then got x-rayed.  So far the vet hasn't found anything horrendous, but Edith is very constipated, so they need to give her a warm water enema.  To do that they need to anesthetise her, and so Dr Parrish wants to monitor her at the surgery overnight.

I do not like this. Doc does not like this.  I'm fairly certain Edith won't like this.  The only member of the Alien Spouse household who is going to be happy about this, once she actually notices, is Nancy.  There is nothing Nancy enjoys more than pretending she is the Only Cat, and usually Edith spoils that game by ambushing Nancy on the stairs.

We'll be getting a phone call later this evening to let us know how the, um, procedure went.  I'll report back the least disgusting of the details.

*** 6:04pm - Dr Parrish called to say Edith's waking up now, and everything seems to be fine.  And relax.***

Poorly Edith.

I took this photo the last time we took Edith to the vet, and it's odd that Edith looks so sad in this picture because she loves the cat carrier and seems to quite enjoy trips in the car. Edith seems to be her usual playful and friendly self, except the poor girl keeps throwing up.

Actually I didn't have the best day at work what with one thing and another, the least of which was discovering free cookie day at our favourite bakery is next Wednesday not today as I'd thought.  The bad day was topped off by my feet getting soaking wet, so when we got home I cleaned up the cat vomit in the living room and bathroom, then I went upstairs to put my slippers on.  Only to find that Edith had puked on them as well.

sigh.  On both our parts I'm sure.

I had called the vets this morning, and they suggested cutting her UTI medication dosage, but I think we really need to take her back to check in with Dr. Parrish as soon as we can.

Edith seems fine now, she's curled up next to me (don't worry, she's on that blue fleece blanket I hate so much) looking really sweet.

Vintage "Get Well Soon" Card

My office was recently given several boxes of second-hand books for the lobby library, and inside one of them was a vintage Get Well Soon card.  The printed sympathy verse is sentimental and seems very dated, but I do love the hand tinted graphic from the top of the card.

Isn't that gorgeous?  Those colours would make anyone feel better.

I Survived Tonsillitis. Again.

Tonsillitis (American Translation: Strep Throat) is my Achille's heel and I suppose I've got quite blase about it now.  It's horrible knowing I'll be croaky and exhausted for about three days, but if I get plenty of sleep, drink lots of warm drinks and watch really formulaic detective shows, I'll feel better quickly.

Right on schedule I'm pretty much over my tonsillitis from last week, but one of the problems with having a boss with a medical degree is once I'm back in the office she can explain to me exactly what the problem was and why that can sometimes be really dangerous.  Now the BBC News website have piled on the historical paranoia with recent research which speculates that Mozart died of complications from a sore throat.  I mean, really!  That timing is uncanny!  I still have a slight sore throat and the usual post-illness ennui, so this is not what I need to be reading. 

Mind you I also just started "The Virgin Suicides" and we watched "The Wrestler" at the weekend, so right now what I really need is for cartoon kittens to be streamed into my cerebral cortex, preferably to the soundtrack of a new Ok Go album featuring guest appearances by Kylie Minogue, Tim Curry and Dusty Springfield.

That would be really rocking now I think of it.

Halloween is Mere WEEKS Away.

I'm starting to plan my Halloween outfit already, but so far all I've decided is that it needs to be warm for the ghost train.

Something tells me I will be doing a lot of spooky crocheting in the next few weeks.

Belly of the Beast.

We've been seeing a lot of grey and white tummy recently.  Nancy has got it, and she is flaunting it.

I Like Driving in My Car.

I got my actual learner's permit photo ID today.  Once again let me say how very glad I am that I got my hair cut before the driving test.

So far I've driven round and round an empty car park, mainly to get used to all the quirks of a new car, and then along a very quiet stretch of road.  It's been really fun!  The everything being on the right-hand side thing hasn't thrown me as much as I would have expected, I suppose that's because I didn't really drive very much in Britain so I don't have any habits to shake.

A Mini Pregnancy. (No, I'm not annoucing anything, calm down)

So yesterday was a very long day, and we spent all of it either driving or at the Mini dealership.  The forecourt of the Mini showroom is so much fun, it's covered in Minis as far as the eye can see.  Every colour and optional extra is represented, and it's like being in a sweet shop for Mini fans.  Our appointment was for 11, and Dana (The sales woman who sold us the black Mini) had got some cars lined up for us to look at. We looked at a cream Mini with heated seats, an "Oxygen Blue" (sort of a smoky sky blue, I loved that colour!) with sun roofs, one in the front and one in the back, and a silver Clubman, which is the biggest car Mini makes and has much more room in the backseat and the boot. They were all nice cars, but really if we were going to be tempted away from our black Mini we wanted something with heated seats and sunroof.  Those might sound like cosmetic concerns, but believe you me, on a frosty Monday morning a cold car seat really adds insult to the injury of having to get up for work. As it happened Dana had a "Chili Red" Mini on hand, which had the toasty seats and the breezy sunroofs.  We quite liked that.

Then came the negotiations part, which was dull but necessary.  I won't got into all of the details, because it's snore-inducing, but eventually we came to an agreement that allowed us to drive away a brand new red Mini with ten miles on the clock, and pay less per month on it. It was at this point that Doc posted a Facebook status that said he was, and I quote, "...freaked out, but also excited.", then we went to lunch, before coming back to hang around until we could sign all of the paperwork and finally drove our new car off the forecourt at 5:45.

It wasn't until we got home at about 9 that I logged onto Facebook, saw Doc's status and also that about half of our friends on Facebook took that to be a baby announcement.  The comments section was practically suggesting names already.  We swiftly issued official denials, because really People no I'm not, which in turn lead to my lovely friend Jonny leaving what I suspect will be my choice for best Facebook comment of 2009, "I've already started knitting the bonnet."

I know people say LOL all the time on-line, but seriously that is comedy gold Jonny!

Road Trip to Look at Cars.

Today we are heading to the dreaded Charlotte, to visit the Mini dealership. They called Doc last week, just to say "Hi! And, Oh-my-goodness, would you look at the deals we can offer you on a brand new Mini?"

Can't hurt to look at the cars they have on their lot, and we are also talking about finding some sushi whilst we're visiting the State's financial hub. Yum!

In unrelated news, I feel a lot better today but I am prepared to bet I sleep the whole way there and back anyway.

Getting Better.

I sound less Dalek-like today, which is nice.  I even went in to the office for a whole hour, because I was convinced I had an urgent paper-work log-jam on my desk.  This turned out just to be my fevered imagination, so now I can relax over the weekend and get rid of this stupid sore throat.

Actually there has been some discussion of having my tonsils removed, but I'm wondering if really the main problem with my tonsils is that they are just too efficient.  I'd hate to chop off a body part that is doing precisely what it's meant to, that seems ungrateful doesn't it?

This Seems... Familiar...

Now I see where this is going. Stupid bloody tonsils.

Thank goodness for tea. How on earth would the National Health Service cope without tea? Oh wait, I'm in America, so I already know that one. Pay a $25 co-pay to see the doctor and probably be given a prescription for anti-biotics, which don't really do much to get rid of tonsilitis any faster.

I think I just solved the US debate on health care. Federally mandated hot sweet tea for all!

Unwell.

I have a low level lurgey of the throat & ears. Not painful at all, but I can't hear very well and I'm exhausted. Back to bed for now.

Another Brick in the Feature Wall.

Have I mentioned the incredibly retro feature wall in my office?

It's the only wall that doesn't have a window, and it was largely covered by my enormous desk until I reorganised the furniture. Now my desk faces this wall, and I'm thinking I need to put up some art because otherwise it's a bit oppressive in a Pink Floyd "Another Brick in the Wall" way, you know?

There already rawl plugs in some spots on the wall, so it wouldn't be too difficult.  Well, accept that all of the existing rawl plugs were seemingly put up at random, so none of them are central and all look to be at least a foot lower than I would want to display art at.  That sort of thing really bothers me.

Anyway, I'm thinking that I might get some new art from the University gallery, but what I would really like is to put up a "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster in a nice soothing colour-way.  Personally I'd like sea green with off white or, maybe, charcoal with duck egg blue.  Something soothing and reassuringly vague, in a nice British way.

Edith: I've Been Trying to Tell You. Stupid Humans.

To carry on from where I left off yesterday in the exciting saga of Edith's continued adventures in peeing, we successfully collected a sample from her.  We dropped it off this morning at the vets, and Doc had a call soon after to tell us that Edith does indeed have a urinary tract infection.

Poor cat!  That's what she's been trying to tell us, along with her disapproval of us going on holiday for over a week and the fact that next-door's cat is still trying to claim the front door as her own.

Of course now we have to give Edith antibiotics every twelve hours, and she enjoys being given her medicine almost as much as Nancy did.  I am very glad that I clipped her claws on Sunday.

Edith Visits the Vet.

By the way, we took Edith to the vets today to check up on her fat lip and the continuing marking of territory in the hallway.  It turns out that the fat lip was in fact a rodent ulcer, which despite the name has nothing to do with mice, but it's already a lot better so the vet preferred not to give her unnecessary medication.

The peeing could be a urinary infection, so we've been given a sample jar to collect, well, a sample.  My plan is just to leave the jar next to the front door over night and put a lid on it in the morning.

Grasshopper.

I was at my desk this afternoon when I heard a distinct thud against the window, when I looked up I saw a huge grasshopper staring in at me.  I used Picnik to boost the colour and texture, so you can really see the... What the hell are those?  Scales?

Then, to give you an idea of how big, I took a photo with my hand in the shot.  You can clearly see that the thing is as big as my thumb.

It was sort of surprising that it didn't start talking to me frankly.

Written Driving Test: Success!

I took this morning off work so that we could go to the DMV office and I could take the test to get a driver's permit.  That would allow me to drive with a licenced driver over 18 years of age in the car, so in other words I still wouldn't be going anywhere without Doc C for a while but at least I could be driving.

We decided to go as soon as the office opened today, which is 8, and there was no one else there so I went straight in and got on with it.

As far as I'm aware I didn't get anything wrong on the sight test, or the traffic signs quiz.  The officer would have told me, right? Then I had to sit at a touch screen terminal and take a multiple choice test.  I had heard many stories about how ridiculous the questions are, and you have to get 20 out of 25 right to pass.  I've been practicing using an app on the iPod, of course there's an app for that, which meant I got comfortable with only answering if I knew I knew the answer and skipping any I would just have been guessing on.  The ones you skip come up again at the end of the quiz anyway, so you get another chance to answer those.
I answered nineteen questions in a row correctly, and the twentieth question was about the exact punishment is for allowing an underage person to use your driver's licence to buy alcohol.  I know the State frowns on that, as indeed they should, but I wasn't sure how severe the punishment was.  I decided to skip that one, and the next question was one I knew, so that was fine!

And that's how I passed the NC DMV written driving test!  First go!  With no wrong answers!

I was extremely glad at that point to have had my haircut on Saturday, because then I had my photo taken for the official learner's permit card.  Doc had assured me this wouldn't happen, so I didn't put any make-up on this morning, but at least my hair wasn't totally embarrassing.

Doc C had already told me that I was not to pretend to have failed if I had passed, so I went straight back to the waiting room with a big smile on my face and brandishing my temporary permit.  Then Doc drove me to an empty car park and I drove around a little bit.  It was most exhilarating, even if I didn't go about first gear.

All Publicity is Good Publicity.

One of the local car dealerships has had a skip outside, with a car dumped in it, for a couple of weeks now.  I noticed that they changed the car recently for a much larger jeep.

I guessed that it was a promotional stunt, but I was slightly confused by the fact the original car in the skip had a vanity plate with the dealerships name clearly displayed on it.  What are they trying to say?  "Come on in! Our cars are rubbish!"

When I took this picture Doc told me there is also an accompanying television commercial, and this is supposed to be promoting the "Cash for Clunkers" programme.  Still I'm not sure it's exactly the image I'd want people to remember when they thought of my business frankly, but that's just me.

Too Damn Hot.

The weather is ridiculously hot again, so the cats and I are wilting and even Doc C is fairly wiped out.  I have been meaning to post all day, but I had to wait for the evening so that the laptop didn't actually set my lap on fire as I typed.  It is hot like the sun.

Still, ice cream for dinner was an acceptable trade off.

Salad for Dinner.

This was my dinner.  A carrot and blueberry salad with pumpkin seeds, and dressed with black pepper, lemon juice and olive oil.  So delicious.

I read this recipe on Crazy Aunt Purl, who got it from the New York Times 101 Salad recipes.

Breakfast and a Haircut.

Saturday!

But not just any Saturday, this is a Saturday when I've got a haircut booked and I left time for us to have a delicious breakfast out first.  Any day that starts with hot wholewheat waffles and fresh fruit salad has got to be good.

I also seem to have finally convinced my hairdresser that she really can cut my hair into a short choppy pixie cut and I won't freak out about it.  I think what did it was having a photo of how I wanted it to be cut, along with a picture of how I thought that would grow out.  Now the first picture was a very pretty model and the second picture was Cate Blanchett, and there is only so much a hair cut can do for a girl, but I think the fact I  demonstrated a solid grasp of the life cycle of a hair do convinced her that I could handle it.

I feel so much happier now!  There is something so oppressive about not being able to do a thing with your mop.

Green, Orange, Red.

Doc's tomatoes seen here doing an impression of a set of traffic lights.

Tasty tasty traffic lights.  Yum!

What You Want, When You Want It.

Yesterday evening Doc opened a bottle of wine, at my request, and poured me a glass of wine.  Which doesn't sound terribly exciting, until you realise that bottle has been sat in the cupboard for at least two weeks without my even considering having a glass of wine with my meal. Which is odd I'm sure you'll agree, but that isn't all.  A couple of weeks ago I ate a bar of Montezuma's Chili Chocolate, quite possibly my favourite chocolate.  The really extraordinary part of this is that this chocolate was part of my birthday present back in November.  I managed to resist opening that chocolate for nine months.

Based on these incidents, and others like them, I'm beginning to think I have developed a whole new personal food manifesto.  Well, maybe manifesto is a bit strong, umm... A new theory of eating?  Well, it's not really a theory as an approach.  Well...
Look, I don't know what the hell it is, but it means I get to eat pastry occasionally so let's just leave it at that, ok?

In a nutshell I can eat whatever I want, but I have to actually want it.  Additionally it should still fit within my calorie allotment for the day, and be good quality (which doesn't necessarily mean made entirely from organic lentils, but it does mean I keep an eye on ingredients).  If it doesn't fall into all of these categories, then I fall back on my default food setting of fruit, vegetables, fibre and low-fat mozzarella string cheese.

Mainly I've just begun taking a lot more notice of what I'm eating, because I note it all down in my iPod's calorie counting app (Lose It) and I'm learning what my body actually requires.So instead of just wandering around the food hall at lunch time, I always have a packed lunch with me. This is usually based around large apple, orange or banana, with ry-vita and peanut butter or guacamole.  If I do decide that I really want a veggie burrito from the food hall, that's perfectly ok as long as I'm eating it because I have made a conscious decision to do so and weighed up the effect on the rest of my day's food intake.

Wow, that sounds ridiculously dull now I write it down, but this is the first time I've ever been on a diet that includes doughnuts and still seems to work for me.  As someone who loves food, but still wants to fit into my jeans, this really makes a huge difference to my day.

John Hughes.

I put together a playlist on 8tracks from sound tracks to some of his classic eighties teen movies.

And yes that is a picture of Anthony Michael Hall with a pen up his nose.  I think John Hughes would have liked that actually.

Suitcase Cat.

Nancy is SO cute! 

I love this picture, except that she still hasn't mastered is keeping still whilst I take photos.  Edith keeps trying to tell her.

Still you get the general idea.  This is Nancy luxuriating in her very own suitcase bed.  The purple and red things at either end are old t-shirts of mine that I used to wear to them gym, and Doc slept in one of his old Ts for a few days to contribute to the aromatic cat haven.

The Secret is to Keep Breathing.

I'm having one of those days where it just feels like I have to remember to breath.  I don't mean I'm ill or depressed, it's just I feel like I have to think about every single intake of breath.  It's such an effort to fill up my lungs.

I'm not really going anywhere with that, other than to ponder if it's because of the warm and humid weather or if it's the effects of a normal mid-week work day.  Actually I suspect if I drew a venn diagram it would be smack in the middle of the two.

Art Criticism in the Workplace.

On the office shredder I noticed three safety icons in a row. 

The ones at each side were fairly self explanatory, "Don't put more than eleven sheets of paper in at one time" (although that is such a fib, my extensive testing indicates that the shredder stalls if you try more than three pages at once) and "Don't put your hand in the shredder".

At first glance, I was somewhat confused by the central icon.

My thought process was something along the lines of "No Angel of the North"?  Eh?  I know not everyone likes Antony Gormley's work, but what has modern sculpture got to do with proper disposal of confidential documents?"

Of course, then I realised that I was looking at thing upside down, and it actually indicates "Do not shred your tie".

Which makes more sense I suppose.

Emergency Broadcast.

There have been some ridiculously heavy storms today, and it appears to have knocked out our cable tv reception.
Fortunately the Internet is still with me, or who knows how I'd survive the evening.

Update: We have TV back! I had to sit on the phone with an automated help desk for ages to get it done. I have earnt this episode of "Bones".

Leopard Print.

I am so definitely my Mother's daughter.  I look like her, I sound like her, I loathed "Bridget Jones' Diary" like her and I shop for accessories like her.

I saw this belt in Asheville, and there was no way I was leaving without it, I immediately made a mental note to use it to belt in a black dress for a faux fifties look.  Fortunately Doc was totally on board with that, in fact he checked that it fitted him too before we bought it.  He's planning on wearing it with jeans and t-shirts though.