Alien Spouse

2012.

Happy New Year!

We spent yesterday evening at Randy and Laura's house with a small grop of friends. It was a very nice way to end 2011, and start 2012.

Today I slept late; finished playing "Arkham Asylum"; got half-way through "Genius Wars" and had a most satisfactory afternoon nap.

Doc started playing "Arkham City" (Catwoman! Squee!); made vegetable stock form the HF-W cookbook; looked on-line at houses for sale and has now settled in for a "Star Wars" marathon.

2012 is off to a cracking start!

The Dragon and The Unicorn.

Boxing Day is part of Christmas that I have come to appreciate more as a grown-up; because obviously as a kid the day after Christmas is merely the furthest possible day from next Christmas and is therefore rather a disappointment after the frenzy of Christmas itself.

Now I think I prefer it! It's so much calmer (well, not that Doc and I actually did anything exciting for Christmas this year) and there are still all sorts of little treats to still be enjoyed.

We went to Randy and Laura's house to play board games, and were introduced to "Chaostle" which is sort of a simpler version of Dungeons and Dragons. Not that I would notice any major differences having never played actual DnD, but this was pretty fast moving and I enjoyed it a lot.

I took loads of photos of the epic battles - Then when I looked at them later, it seemed that almost all of them featured either the Dragon or the Unicorn, so I thought I'd use the only skirmish that was between these two mythical brawlers (I believe the Dragon won here).

Phoning It In.

Today we had afew things to do before going to Jack and Amber's house for dinner and cooing over their preternaturally cute baby son.

First we had to take out the recycling because it was at the falling-on-you stage, and as our preferred recycling center happens to be close to a Verizon shop I decided to upgrade my phone. Well, actually, I did not want to upgrade my phone, because an upgrade to me would mean a smart phone and I do not want to pay for the monthly data plan - In fact I wanted to get the simplest of the basic phones, I'd actually have quite liked to down-grade to something without a camera or an MP3 player, because I never use those features. I tried to explain this to the assistant at the Verizon shop, but I think he'd just taken some cold medication or something else that advises you not to drive or operate heavy machinery, I soon realised I was on my own out there. In the end I grabbed an LG Cosmos 2, which was fairly cheap, had a slide out keyboard and uses a micro USB to charge. When I got home I second guessed myself by checking on-line reviews and it seems to be a good texting phone and have a good battery life. Perfect.

After that we bought a cherry pie and came home to get changed for dinner.

The Festive Season.

Last week was the last week of classes, so whilst there are still a week of exams to get through before the Winter break, there is a distinct scent of festivity in the air. Last week I went to a drag show, my department's Christmas drinks and the annual Christmas party of some friends of ours - These events, plus our usual Wednesday pub night, meant that we were out four nights out of seven and that is a lot for me. I felt distinctly unsociable and headachey by Sunday, so I wanted nothing more than to play "Arkham Asylum", read about animal communication and get my Doc Martens ready for winter.

When we were invited out to the cinema on Sunday, it sounded fun but it also sounded like I'd have to wash my hair and get dressed.  I really needed some quiet time at home, so we declined but it's so nice to have friends who understand that sometimes you just have to power down.

This week we've got Doc's departmental party, a haircut in Asheville and a Torchwood viewing party; so far there's nothing else on the calendar and that sounds just about perfect to me.

A Kindle's Journey.

For my birthday Moth gave me some Amazon gift tokens, so I could buy a Kindle! I ordered it on my birthday (along with a olive green leather case, and a book for the Doc) and have been tracking it's progress ever since. Wheeeee!

That's really been the focus of this week for me, so I've found it very hard to write blog posts that weren't just detailing the Kindle's journey from Amazon's mysterious seller facility, the location of which is merely given as "US". The first stop on the trek was Hebron, Kentucky, which gives us a clue as to the seller facility's location because it only took an hour to get to Hebron from there. We can also deduce that Hebron must be delightful, because the Kindle spent 7 hours there. What do you think? Brunch with some of the other parcels, maybe a mini spa day?

Happily refreshed the Kindle spent the next day travelling from Kebron KY to Charlotte NC, where it checked in for the night. Kindle left Charlotte for Alienspouseville at 2 o'clock this morning, and I kept checking the shipment tracker, and when it's arrival was logged I got VERY excited; so I walked to the post office at lunch time.

Did I mention that today has been the first day we've had proper snow? And, naturally, the heaviest flurry was at lunch time, so I walked to and from the post office - in the snow - to get my Kindle and...

...The delivery it was on hadn't been unpacked yet, so I have to go back tomorrow.

It'll probably snow again, and there will be some sort of geological event that will mean I'll have to walk up hill both ways. Actually it was quite a nice walk really, and it wasn't an entirely unfruitful trip, the birthday present I'd ordered for Doc C (and the t-shirt I got at the same time) had arrived, so that was something. Doc's present was an apron in suitably drab colours, the man lives in drab, with the slogan "I (pictogram of a loaf of Bread) Bread"! "I Loaf Bread"! Love it!

Mid-Week Pub Night.

I've never liked Wednesdays, but now I've started meeting friends after work for a pint at least Wednesday evenings are starting to grow on me.

Trivia Night.

This evening Doc C and I were invited to join Anna's pub quiz team, and I am very pleased to report that Stormageddon came third. Not bad for an opening gambit.

We have lulled them into a false sense of security, and next week we shall sweep to victory! Victory!

Pizza and Tardis.

This evening we are going to eat pizza and watch "Doctor Who" with Randy, whilst Laura is away. Don't worry she knows that we're cheating on the TV viewing whilst she's not here, but, I won't lie, it does feel wrong to be watching River Song without her.

As for pizza, Randy and Doc C share a love of Hawaiien, so they always have that. I have recently discovered Mellow Mushroom's Mega Veggie, this is a "Red Sauce base pizza with Mozzarella, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Spinach, Green Peppers, Mushrooms, Onions, Black Olives, Roma Tomatoes, Broccoli, Feta, Banana Peppers, Artichoke Hearts and Tofu." which is delicious once you ditch any form of pepper from it; tofu on a pizza I can handle peppers (other than jalapeño)? No, not for me thanks.

Maude in Progress.

I don't generally post pictures of works in progress on-line, but I offered to make a pair of "Harold and Maude" (1971) amigurumis for Megg back in freaking NOVEMBER, so, you know, I thought I'd make an exception. 

This is Maude, I actually made her head when I was in England, so she's been percolating for a while now, and, after seriously months of internal debate, I finally decided to dress her in the outfit she wears to the second (I think?) funeral; so a classic trench coat with a pink silk scarf (not made yet) and a big yellow umbrella.

I still haven't quite decided how to dress Harold, should he wear the clothes he is in for the second funeral, or should I go for one of his more colourful and therefore fun outfits? He has a particularly great pinkish tweed suit that keeps jumping up and down in my mind, but I have no earthly clue how I would do that. Maybe baker's twine? I don't know. Fortunately I do know for definite that Harold will have very long legs, and they will definitely be clad in flares.

Summer Breakfast.

In the summer I like to make my breakfast the night before, so all I need to do is get up and make a huge cup of green tea. I really like brice, which is rolled oats mixed with yogurt and then left to soak overnight; this particular breakfast was a top tip from my lovely friend Stu who made it for me with rhubarb yogurt a few years ago.

I can't get rhubarb yogurt over here (and let's not get me started on the list of perfectly normal things that I can't seem to find in supermarkets, I believe we've covered that ground once or twice now), so I use plain yogurt and stir in some frozen raspberries to the oated yogurt before putting it in the fridge.

By the next morning the raspberries have thawed, and there are bursts of bright pink in the creamy brice. The plain yogurt with the raspberries makes for a very tart breakfast, so I drizzle some honey over the top and the whole thing is totally delicious.

Seis De Mayo.

Yesterday after work we went to our friend David's house for an end of Semester slash day after cinco de mayo party. Everyone was bringing south western food with them, so sort of, kind of, mexican-ish.

I made tequila lime cupcakes with a lime and sour cream frosting, and Doc C made chilli chocolate fudge. Doc very much liked my cupcakes, but thought the fudge was too spicy so he almost didn't bring it with us; I however thought it was delicious so the fudge came too. David had invited everyone for six, so I thought I'd be home by ten and planned to post then. Isn't it funny how after three beers and two margaritas you suddenly realise it's midnight, and you've been giggling like a loon at YouTube videos for at least an hour?

It was a very fun Friday evening.

A Visit from My Mother-in-Law.

After the Power of the Pumps walk we met up with Alison (Doc's Mum) and her friend Mike, who had detoured on their drive back to Massachussets after wintering in Florida. They had arrived in town just before the walk, so they saw The Wedges before going to get some lunch whilst the actual walk was in progress.

The last time they visited we were still living in our old house, so we were excited about showing off our current home because it is a much prettier house and neighbourhood. They were staying over-night (after Doc guilt-tripped them), so we went out for dinner and an evening tour of the town, before getting frozen custard. We know how to show visitors the very best of our small town. It was actually a really good evening for them to visit, with the town being neither in the full-on tourist mode of summer or the full-on student mode of the start of a semester (it's exam week - The students should all be revising...) and the weather being actually quite pleasant instead of miserably cold and damp.

This morning Doc dropped me off at work before going to meet them for breakfast, and then they will continue on their way back to New England.

Power of the Pumps Walk.

On Sunday we got up reasonably early to finish cleaning the house, and then went for brunch with Randy and Laura before heading to a local park for the Power of the Pumps walk. This was a fund-raising walk for a local charity specifically focused on helping women, so all of the men were supposed to walk the mile long course in women's shoes.

Doc was on a team with three other professors from his department and one guset walker; hence the name - Team Philosophy and Religion. I was particularly impressed to note that theirs was the only team to fulfill the shoe requirement according to the spirit of the thing, and they all actually wore women's shoes; they didn't wimp out by stringing a pair of heels on a ribbon and wearing them around their necks or by spray-painting a pair of old trainers hot pink. Doc C had the advantage of being married to a woman with the same size feet as him, so I was able to lend him my lovely blue-and-white striped wedges (I love this photo, but the grass means you can't really appreciate the height of the wedges. They're about 2 inches high). And I painted his toenails red to add just a touch more glamour.

The other team's all covered the course much faster, but it wasn't supposed to be a race, so I was very glad when the event organisers gave Team Philosophy and Religion an honourable mention. To top that Team P&R won the bronze for fund raising, and had both the winner of the highest heel (Jack) and prettiest shoes (Kern). Doc came in a close second on both of those categories, and also got a bronze for individual fund-raising. Doc was beaten on the technicality of his wearing a wedge, whereas Jack was wearing an actual heel, so Doc's were higher but were deemed easier to walk in; as for the prettiest shoes, well, I think that was because Kern had done his own nail varnish and so his salmon pink open-toe shoes had camoflaged toenails peeping out. The nail-varnish on both of them went down particularly well with some of the smaller spectators who ran ahead of them yelling "All Hail!" for the nail-varnish men! 

The whole event was in the afternoon, and so Doc was probably wearing and walking in the wedges for two hours at the most. His legs were still aching when we went to bed, and when we got up this morning he was asking what he could do the make his Achilles tendon feel better. This did cause me to laugh and laugh and laugh, but I haven't teased him too much, because, to be fair, I barely ever wear heels myself.

I'd been careful to lend him the shoes least likely to also give him blisters or take all the skin off his heels, but I agree with him that heels do indeed suck to walk in, make your calves burn and throw you off your natural centre of balance. That's why I am so very proud of him (and his team mates) for actually doing the thing properly.

A mile in HER shoes indeed. 

Organisational Shopping and Cat-Walking.

Tomorrow Doc's Mum will be popping in for a visit, so we're scrambling to get the house looking nice. I have been organising the kitchen cupboards, and I also took all of our CDs and DVDs out of their individual cases and consolidated them into albums. Doc's CD collection had started to take over my albums, so he needed a new one of his very own; which meant a trip to Staples which is always fun isn't it? I also bought a file box so I can sort out all those important bits of pape that are currently mixed in with old Lush catalogues and cool knitting patterns I found on-line.

Then we spent an hour walking the cuts on their leads, and I am happy to report that there was a lot of rolling around and eating of grass on the part of Nancy and Edith. Doc and I mostly just stood around, because you don't really walk cats so much as cramp their style. Edith got into a staring match with a goose, and clearly thought that it was really rude of me to interrupt, but as the geese have just hatched goslings it seemed a little foolhardy on her part.

And Another Thing...

I have had a really rubbish day. I define that by quite simple criteria and if I've had to reassure more than one person that my face always goes blotchy when I'm a bit weepy then it's safe to say it's within those criteria.

The emotional rollercoaster track was plotted thusly:

• Morning - Chin up with a brave smile and a witty quip to face another day!
• Mid-Morning - Feeling a bit put upon
• Late Morning - Crying at my desk and calling Doc C for sympathy
• Lunch Time - Close to furious
• Mid-Afternoon - Calmly reporting the whole mess to my Assistant Chair
• Late Afternoon - Leaving early for the day
• Early Evening - Large whiskey and a nap on the sofa

I never did like Wednesdays.

Throw in a handful of hysterical laughing and moments of pure disbelief in human behaviour and I think you've got the basic idea. Please also spare a thought for poor Doc C, I think today was almost as stressful on him as it was on me; he hates it when I get upset but he hates it with a particular vengeance when I'm upset about something he can't fix for me.

The highlight of the day was when we realised we needed dishwasher powder and we'd overshot the last supermarket on our way home, so we went on to the next one past our house. Whilst we were there Doc chose a nice bottle of wine for me and I remembered I needed to buy some chocolate as well. On the shelf with the really good quality chocolate was Lindt, and the dark chocolate with sea salt was on special offer. This has a newly established special place in my heart because that was the very chocolate that Mum introduced me to on my trip home to see her and just seeing it in the aisle was a bit like a hug from my Mum at exactly the right moment.

Philadelphia 2011!

Philadelphia! It took thirteen hours to get here, with one traffic jam, a detour through Washington's rush hour traffic and a flaming eighteen wheeler at a nice safe distance on the other side of the highway (one of the wheels exploded when we went past - which was pretty exciting!)What is with the heavy rain every time I come to visit you? It does not make a girl feel very welcome you know.

However I do appreciate that you are clearly the place for conferences, as my friend Danny was also here and I haven't seen him in years so it was lovely to have lunch and catch up with him.

After lunch, I went to Blick to buy art supplies; Lush to buy moisturiser etc; and then Grocery for a vegan wrap and a cupcake.

Now I'm back at the hotel, hoping to dry off before going for curry with my husband and other philosophers.

Ah Philadelphia! Love you!

Cookie I Make.

Our lovely friends Randy and Laura gave us a set of fabulous Star Wars cookie cutters as a house warming present when we moved, and we were both thrilled with them!

My immediate response was to want to whip up a batch of cookie dough to try those babies out, however Doc C wouldn't let me take them out of the packaging because he is a nerdy collector at heart. So these fabulous cookie cutters have stayed in their box on display in the kitchen, and I have just gazed at them. The obvious answer (apart from simply waiting until Doc wasn't looking and busting out the coveted springerle-esque moulds) was to buy another set, but I didn't know where they were from.

A few weeks ago I noticed the box of cookie cutters on the bookshelf in Doc's office and I demanded to know why they were there. He told me that this was a second box of the cookie cutters that he'd been given by Kim and Jill to say thank you for cat-sitting over spring break.

Which means...

...Yoda Cookies!

 

Sunday in Norfolk.

Today was a quiet Sunday at home, mainly because both Stu and Ruby were under the weather. Stu being human made it easier to ascertain his symptoms, and suggest that taking a paracetomol and resting were the best things to do. It's trickier with Ruby because she can't explain what's not feeling right, so it is purely our observing that she is off her food, not washing and very lethargic. Tomorrow morning we will take Ruby to the vets, so I'll hopefully know more then.

Mum and I are both feeling fine so far (knock on wood - because that would be bloody annoying wouldn't it?), so we baked cheese scones, lemon & poppyseed muffins and peanut butter biscuits. Then we played Scrabble, and I finished making Maude's hair.

 

Saturday Evening Out.

Saturday night used to mean going out to a night club and dancing until my feet ached, but now it usually means jim-jams and maybe an ovaltine. This evening though we were invited to a dinner party, so I had a reason to put on make-up (!) and a dress (!!) on a Saturday (!!!). It was extremely pleasant to have a glass of wine and chat over some delicious pasta.

It also meant we had to think of something to bring with us, and whilst I could have made butter cookies I was actually even more pleased when Doc took up my suggestion of making macaroons. So delicious. We didn't bring any back, but I know for a fact we still have the ingredients in the house and Doc C had better get used to the idea I want another batch for our personal consumption.

Game Day.

Today we had arranged to go over to Laura and Randy's house to play "Arkham Asylum".  This time we were very focussed and actually remembered to play the game instead of just chatting which is what happened last time.  It's a really fun board game, and I very much liked that it was a collaborative effort on the part of every one playing to battle the ancient horror and it's minions.  True I did get eaten, or rather my character did, but my companions bravely battled on and were ultimately victorious.

After that, we went for burritos and frozen custard! Yay! It's great being a grown up and having exactly what you want to eat!

It was still fairly early in the evening, so I suggested that we all go back to our house and play video games.  Which was what we did, and Laura now understands my deep love of "Little Big Planet". 

It has been a very fun Saturday.

Christmas Day 2011 - In Brief.

I just realised I wrote nothing at all about how we spent Christmas Day itself, which seems odd and shall be corrected immediately.  We had a very relaxed day, we mainly needed to source meals so, after breakfast at the B&B (fresh popovers, porridge, yogurt, juice, fruit and tea - I can highly recommend the Irving House breakfast buffet), we wandered into Harvard Square.  We found lunch at a Japanese cafe where I had a banana, apple and peanut-butter wrap with a tall Bubble Tea and some Pocky.  Bubble Tea is something I've been meaning to try for a while, and it really is most peculiar; essentially it's a flavoured iced tea with milk and then the bubbles are actually small chewy spheres that get sucked up the straw with your tea.  I think I liked it, but it was disconcerting to not be sure exactly what it is at the bottom of your drink until you can look it up on wikipedia and be reassured that it's either tapioca or a type of jelly sweet.

Then I don't remember what we did, but I suspect we both read until it was time for our dinner reservations at a nearby Indian restaurant.  There we ate excellent curry and eavesdropped on the odd couple at the table behind me.  Well I eavesdropped and Doc C observed the body language, then we compared notes afterwards - Our conclusion?  Well, it was very hard to say much beyond somebody was doing something dead dodgy on Christmas Day, but they weren't quite indescreet enough for us to get the sordid details.  Of course we hypothsised wildly on the way home and I must admit that even our most generous theories were still unflattering to the young lady involved who seemed to be the brains of the operation.

After dinner we walked back to our room and I watched "Elf", whilst Doc C pretended to be reading and ignore the film for the first half, but by the end he was watching as well.  It's a good film!

So yes, that was Christma day 2011.  I rather liked it. 

Silent Night? Hah!

Christmas Eve was pretty hectic, which was what I expected really.  Doc C's family likes to meet up and give the children of the family their presents from the extended family, so it's a lot of hyped up kids and a fair amount of chaos.

This year the main action was at Buffy's house, and her two kids decided that their Aunty Jen (although I'm pretty certain they had no idea what my name was) was the perfect person to sit on, play picnic with, carry them around and generally be an all purpose climbing frame.  It made it really quite difficult for me to finish a glass of wine, what with all the running away in circles from monsters, and the swinging small people upside down "Again! Again!" and again!  Bear in mind this is before anymore of Doc's siblings turned up, so by the end of the evening there were actually 12 adults and a seething carpet of variously aged children.

And then we still had to go and see the other side of the family, which I thought was going to be a fair bit quieter there being only one brother,one sister-in-law, two nephews and Doc C's Dad involved. How wrong I was.  I had failed to consider the volume that can be created by an animatronic Santa singing "Jingle Bell Rock" on repeat, whilst a small child sets off Billy the Bass singing "Don't Worry, Be Happy".  Plus one of their two dogs was feeling a bit anxious what with all the people in the house, and had a lot to say about it, where as the other one fell in love with my hand and just kept licking me or insisting on belly rubs.  Clearly I must look like a total push-over to small children and animals, because that's how our cats treat me as well.  Still I suppose it's nice to be "loved", even if the creature in question has no idea who you are.

By the end of the day I had, unsurprisingly, a splitting headache, so we came back to our lovely B&B to sleep and all we have planned for Christmas Day itself is a walk around town to locate open restaurants so we can eat something other than clementines and dark chocolate for dinner, and then a stroll around the beautiful Massachusetts countryside.

Mackenzie.

This is the amigurumi I made for my work friend Amy's Christmas basket.  She's based on a particularly terrifying small girl featured in the reality television series "Toddlers and Tiaras", who has become something of a by-word in our office for the majestic power of a well timed strop.  It's worth pondering from time to time.

Happy Birthday Moth!

I've been asleep for most of today, which was just lovely, I think it was my sub-conscious welcoming in the Christmas break.  Once I finally woke up at about 3, my first priority was to call my Mum and wish her a happy birthday.

I also tried out one of my Christmas presents, a fire pot from my work-friend Amy.  The pot is portable and can be used inside because the fuel is smokeless, so it's perfect for when you want a small but atmospheric fire. I only put a small amount of the fuel gel into the reservoir, and it lasted about half an hour.  This is also going to be really nice to have in the middle of the table when we have dinner outside in the summer.

Look at that flame! 

Edith was totally fascinated by it, but she didn't set her whiskers or tail on fire I'm pleased to say.   

The Annual Good-Intention-Failed-Execution.

Last weekend, or maybe even the weekend before that, I dug out the Christmas cards to write address and send.  They have just been sat untouched in their boxes ever since; so once again I have failed to send anyone a festive card, cue the festive guilt.

Actually when I got the boxes of cards out, I found several cards loose on top.  Which was odd, then it turned out I'd already written the cards, and completely failed to send them.  What's more I couldn't then whack them into envelopes and send them to the intended recipients under the guise of their being freshly chosen and written cards, because I'd put the date in them.  Christmas 2008?!?

Who keeps unsent Christmas cards for two years?  And what should I do with them now?  I am just hopeless at this, and I need to either accept that, or damn well get my act together in Novemeber next year.

For this year though:

Dear friends, please know that I often think think fondly of all of you, especially at Christmas, and if I lived closer then I'd bake you all mince pies with stars on the top.

The Complete Yoda.

Instead of partying this evening, I got out the number 3 crochet hook (it's the light blue one, and it's my favourite) and finished Yoda's hands and cane.

Ta-Dah!

I have to throw false modesty to the wind and say he turned out far better than I was expecting him to.  Yoda himself is crocheted in cotton, with hair made of strands of cotton rug-hooked in and polymer clay button eyes.  His clothes are all knitted, the top and trousers from brown cotton, and the robe from new wool.  I also crocheted a cane from beige cotton, and made loops from his fingers so he can hold the handle.  The cane and the robe are removable, and of course Yoda can wear his hood up or down.

I made him for my friend Laura to give to a friend of her's who is a huge Star Wars fan, but Doc C is already starting to get quite attached, so I hope I can smuggle him out when the Doc isn't looking.

A Purgative of Mental Objects.

Edith woke me up at 5 this morning by miaowing pitifully, which she never does, so I went downstairs to check she was ok (she was totally fine, I don't know what that was about at all) and then back up to bed; but I couldn't fall back to sleep.  I just did that dozing thing, where you have your eyes closed but your brain is churning away.

Mainly I was thinking about life, the universe, and, you know, everything.  A recurring theme was blogging and what exactly I'm trying to do in this little bit of of the internet.  I read a lot of blogs, web comics and cyber-zines so I've observed there are as many approaches to maintaining an internet site as there are people on-line.  I've never wanted to stick to a particular theme, because my blog was more about keeping an open diary.

When I wrote about going to the hospital with Doc C on Wednseday evening he wasn't very pleased that I'd done that, but it was in defending those 2 posts that I came to the conclusion that I haven't been writing about the things I've been actually thinking about.  I don't really know why I'm censoring myself so heavily because all it means is that when I open the compose screen I'm stuck with a very limited selections of topics to write about, and it sort of feels like I'm making endless small talk.  Which is exhausting.

So I think it's time for a cathartic blurt of my current recurring thoughts:

• Doc C and I are going to try and get me pregnant in 2011.  This is a very weird thought.
• I haven't been home in over three years and I just have a small but constant lump of homesickness in my throat that I have to try and ignore or I'll just wallow in it.
• I've been on anti-depressants for 18 months mainly to cope with the homesickness, and that certainly helps, but it's still there.
• I don't like living in a small town, because I really miss being in a big city.  The job market means we are unlikely to move anywhere soon, so I'm trying to make the best of it all but it's not my ideal lifestyle.
• Only one person seems to be talking to me from my last office here on campus, and that makes me really paranoid.  Did I do something awful or are they just cross because I changed offices?  No one's actually mentioned anything to me, but it's a hard feeling to shake.
• I like my current job but I always planned to have got somewhere in an actual career by this stage in my life, and I'm getting a little bit panicky that I'm in my mid-thirties without any idea what the hell I'm going to do next. Part of the problem is that the only career option that seems viable in a small university town is becoming a university lecturer.
• I'd need to complete at least an MA, which would involve taking classes, researching and writing essays and doing student teaching whilst working a full time job.  I need a nap and a large gin just thinking about that. 
• I would like to start a small business but I'm not sure what I should try to do.  I'm always being told I should sell my Amigurumis or other stuff I make, but I'm just not sure if that's really what I want to do full-time.
• I'm not a very good house keeper, because I honestly don't notice that stuff until it becomes clear that it really needs to be done.
• I don't like my wardrobe.  The only place I ever seem to buy clothes here is Old Navy, which is fine for jeans and casual tops; but all of their skirts are too short.  I'll never be cool and that's fine, I just want to look smart and sensible, but also a bit funky or at least interesting.  
• I can't find time to exercise regularly.  Going to the University gym is free, but it opens at 7 so I can only fit in 20 to 30 minutes in the morning before I have to get ready to start work at 8; the gym then closes at 3 and I finish work at 5.  I can't run because my plataar fascitiis flares up again.  I want to take Pilates, but one studio just won't get back to me and the other isn't offering classes until next year now.
• I'm a natural blonde and, as is natural, my hair is getting darker.  I occaisonally think that I'd like to dye it a fun colour, but I've never bleached or dyed my hair and I'm not sure I could really be bothered with the necessary upkeep to keep it looking good.  Plus that sounds expensive.
• We will be in Boston for Christmas, which means we will be seeing the Doc's family and he hasn't even begun thinking what we could do for presents for all of them.  Actually when I mentioned it this morning he said he would tell them not to give us any, so we shouldn't need to get anything for them.  This strategy never bloody works, and I find it mortifying to be given gifts when I don't have anything to give in return.
• Edith keeps pooping on the bathroom floor, I'm trying not to get angry with her because I know she's just trying to tell me something, but I don't know what she wants now. This makes me feel like a bad cat owner.

Ummm... Yeah, there's other stuff too I'm sure, but that'll do for now!

Thanksgiving Dinner.

Thanksgiving is a charming holiday, and I think England should look into having one as well.  We spent most of Thanksgiving day asleep, because we'd had so much fun partying at the hospital obviously.  Woo!

In the afternoon, whilst I was eating breakfast, Doc C was whipping up Nigella's Almond Cake to take to dinner at a friend's house.  I had planned to make a veggie side dish, but this had changed from a rather yummy sounding savoury bread and butter pudding with kale and butternut squash to, well, brussel sprouts.  And I got cold feet about the whole thing.  It's all very well for The Doc to say it's not a competition when he's the one baking a bloody gorgeous cake, and I'm bringing everyone's least favourite vegetable.  In the end Doc solved the problem by deciding to cook the sprouts himself and then asking if we could roast the sprouts once we got there.  He is a sensible man, my husband.

Dinner was lovely, and all of the food was delicious.  Naturally the cake was very well received, but the sprouts were complimented highly as well.

My Weekend in Summary.

This weekend I have spoken to my Mum; been to a Zumba class; walked a dog who I would love to adopt; eaten frozen custard; watched Miss Marple solve the mystery of "The Body in the Library; made a pair of clawed feet for crochet Yoda; bought comic books; finished a Dorothy L. Sayers book; played video games; and had a really nice nap.

 

Tipsy Cupcake Decorating.

I bought a Chocolate Guinness Cupcake whilst we were in Asheville, but I was still full from lunch, so I brought it back home with me.

In the shop I was slightly disappoined that my favourite flavour was the only type that day to have icing on top, but no decorations.  Fortunately my lovely friends Stu and Lee had sent me a box full of sprinkles of all types, so this way I would get to decorate it myself.  Hoorah!

I was originally intending to have concentric circles of different types of sprinkles, which would have been rather lovely I think.  Perhaps my vision would have been better executed had I done it before I drank two large martinis with dinner, rather than after.  Almost certainly the photo would have been in focus then too, but it was still delicious and I think it looked none the less celebratory.

Where Sunday Went.

How did it get to be 9:40pm on a Sunday?  I haven't baked the cookies for our office's student worker birthday or done any laundry or played any video games at all!

Well, today we visited the humane society with David and Cameron to visit the cats I've been trying to persuade David into adopting.  Then we all went to the cinema (well, we didn't bring the cats) to see "The Expendables" which was just awe inspiringly terrible, as I had fully expected and hoped.  I mean if you get 10 action movie stars together in one film, then the audience should not expect Ibsen.  They should expect 'splosions and bone snapping, and those things "The Expendable" richly delivers.

Fortunately David also reminded us that Doc C had a department party to go to this afternoon, so we swung home to get changed and then headed over to that where we ate some great food before coming home for a nap.

That was our Sunday.  Damn it!  I want a three day weekend to be standard issue.  Is that really so much to ask?

Almost the Whole Chocolate Box.

We went to dinner at Kim and Jill's last night, and stopped to pick up a nice bottle of wine on the way.  Somehow we ended up with three nice bottles of wine and a block of gourmet dark chocolate with chili pepper.

This was mainly because Doc was shown around the shelves by one of the guys who work in our local specialist wine store; whilst I gravitated straight to the bottle with the coolest label.  A Chocolate Box Sauvignon Blanc, with a fabulous pin-up girl label.

Naturally when we got to dinner, mine was the one that got cracked open so Doc could have a glass of white.  I usually prefer red, but the bottle sat between Doc and I for the whole meal and we shared it.

It was only this morning that I realised that meant Doc C had one glass, and I had about 3/4 of the bottle.  Plus some vodka cocktails before dinner and a benedictine after.  That's far more than I have drunk in quite some time.

In some ways I was quite grateful to Edith for insisting I get up to feed her at 6, because I had a glass of water then; so by the time I woke up properly I was already on the road to hydration.

Little Big Internet.

We went to a house warming party this evening (I wore a polka dot dress and we took a gorgeous blueberry pie from our favourite bakery) which was really fun.

I logged onto Little Big Planet for a bit before we left the house, and somehow I found myself playing on-line, which is one of the features that makes PS3 unique.  I honestly don't know how that happened, but I just went with it.  Then some other players joined the game, and they tried to talk to me but I don't have a microphone set up sort I just sort of waved at them.  They were friends, and I could hear them chatting to each other and occasionally they'd try to talk to me again, mainly asking if I was a boy or a girl.  Just based on that I think they were fairly young.

I think they got a bit frustrated with the game, and with me not talking to them, so they understandably went a bit feral - Nothing mean spirited, they just wanted to play fight really, but I couldn't retaliate very well  so I tried to leave the game.  What I didn't realise was that if I just went back to my home base they would get dragged with me.  It was SO weird having other sack people in my pod!  I quickly jumped into another game to keep them busy whilst I worked out how the hell to get off-line.

Playing Little Big Planet with friends would be so much fun, but I need to get much more skillful and I really want to team up with somebody I actually know for the first couple of on-line missions so they can hold my cyber-hand.  Do any of you want to volunteer?  Go on!  It'll be really fun I promise!

Sunday on Target.

We had no plans for today, other than pancakes for breakfast, so we drove over to the nearest Target about an hour away.  We wanted to browse for furniture and kitchen stuff for the new house.  So we did that, and found a coffee table we both liked as well as a TV stand, bar stools and a sofa.  Well I really liked the sofa, Doc C has become very sentimental about the tartan 70's sofa bed we bought for $50 when we moved in here.  The one that was sort of a joke.  sigh.  What am I going to do with him?

Anyway, we also found the cookbook section and whilst Doc fell on "Weber's Way to Grill" with cries of delight, I flipped through "Jamie's Food Revolution" - both of those came home with us.  When just flipping through a cookbook makes you salivate, then you know it's a winner.

Then we happened to bump into Randy and Laura, who were shopping for their new house, so we arranged to meet them for dinner.  It was a very pleasant day all around!

Bon Voyage Jason!

sigh.

We drove Jason to the airport this morning.

sigh.

Did Not Want.

Monday with Jason.

Well obviously it's Monday, and that did require me to go in to work but I'm taking three days off this week, so that was quite fun really.

And then after work - 

Mini Golf!  Tuna steaks!  Red Wine! "Dance Your Ass Off"! Booking a hotel in DC!

YAY!

Engerland Was Robbed.

I haven't been paying any attention to the football whilst Doc C watches the England Germany game, but even I think Lampard got a second goal for England.

Anyway, time to go to the airport and collect Jason.  Yay!

A Teeny Tiny Reason To Be Happy.

I had a nice day at work and now I'm in a great mood, but nothing really note worthy happened to cause this phenomenon; for example, I am super-thrilled to have found a new cleaning technique to try out on the grout on the guest bathroom floor, just in time for Jason's visit no less, but I don't expect anyone else to be.  

Well, maybe Jason and Doc C, and quite likely our landlady too, but apart from them.  

Ooh and my Mum, obviously, and my friends Jen and  Sarah, who both like things to be clean.  And Stu, who is very environmentally conscious.

OK, so that is quite a few people actually.  Maybe I don't feel so silly mentioning it now.

Woolly Moth Tattoo.

I sewed the sleeves onto my navy blue sweater at the weekend, and this evening I embroidered a "tattoo" onto the left sleeve's bicep.

It's that classic of tattoo design, a heart with a banner,  and the banner says MOTH.

Love my Moth!

Saturday Night.

When last we spoke I mentioned having bought plants, and the saga continues with Doc C carefully re-potted all three of my Peace Lillies for me.  We'd bought them nice new matching pots and Doc lovingly added some manure to make them feel at home, and then we packed them all in the back of the car to drop off at my office on the way to bowling.  At the first sharp corner the largest lily took a dive, knocked over the medium lily and spilled wet manure all over the back of the car.  The Doc was not what you might call pleased about this.  There may have been some swearing.  We carried on, I was sort of reaching around the driver's seat to hold the plant up for the rest of the journey and we surveyed the situation once we got to the office.  Fortunately only the large lily had really lost any soil, but it was still an impressive amount.  We scooped up as much as we could and packed it back into the pot, so hopefully when I go into work on Wednesday all the plants will be none the worse for their little adventure.

After this skirmish with inanimate flora, we went bowling and I won the first round!  It was extremely satisfying, but I lost whatever luck/skill/knack by the next round and came last with a score of less than half of my first one.  Ah well, that's how these things happen with me, I find.  It would probably help if the bowling alley served alcohol, because I find that after two beers my snooker/pool playing improves tremendously, and I'm pretty sure my bowling would as well.

Then we moved onto watch "The Big Lebowski" which was really fun, the cinema has been bought out by new management and they are really trying to encourage people to eat by putting out tables and chairs instead of rows of seats, and having waitresses come to take orders and get you re-fills whilst you are enjoying the film.  One waitress was on rollerskates, which was particularly cool.  Somehow I'd never previously seen the whole of "The Big Lebowski", and it was really fun seeing it on a big screen surrounded by fans who were quoting their favourite parts of the script as they came up.  Usually I hate talking in cinemas, but that's usually because it indicated the people chatting aren't really watching and that lack of respect for the film itself and for other audience members really bugs me; however, when it's fans clearly loving every moment of a film they love, well, how can you be cross about that?  I find it very endearing actually!  Or that good will towards all fellow audience members might have been because the cinema was also serving White Russians, and I find those to be a tasty and enjoyable cocktail.

Wherein Edith Welcomes Us Home. Loudly.

The cats are really glad to have us home, Edith decided to miaow that at the top of her lungs at 5:45 this morning.  Usually she only does that when she's wreaked some particularly impressive chaos, but this morning all she wanted was some attention and fuss from her humans.  It's really nice to be loved, but it was hard to really appreciate it knowing that Edith would spend the rest of the day snoozing and I had to go to work.

Doc C doesn't remember a thing about any of this now, although at the time he was less than impressed.

So, thanks to the early wake-up call from Edith, and the pint of beer I had with dinner to celebrate Kim being made full professor (Yay!) I am VERY dopey now.  Thankfully the only thing worth watching on TV is the SyFy marathon screening of the original "V".  I think being too attentive might not actually be a good thing when it comes to mid 80's cheesy science fiction.

On The Road That's Where I'll Always Be.

Doc C's Dad stopped for a quick visit on route between Florida and Massachusetts.  He dropped off a tomato plant for Doc, bought a t-shirt from the University giftshop and then was on his way again.

Cocktail Hour.

This evening we went out for cocktails to celebrate Laura having got a job with the University.  This is very exciting. 

Laura has been teaching in Florida, whilst her husband Randy has been here in North Carolina; so Laura getting this job is really great news for them.  On a more selfish note, my friend Laura will be in the same state!  Squee!

I had a martini with two blue cheese olives to celebrate.  I dispute any claims that having one martini made me in any way squiffy - Don't listen to Doc C.  He doesn't really drink, and so he always overestimates the effect alchohol has on me.  I'll admit to being happy, but under the circumstances I believe that is entirely appropriate.

Wall of Sound.

By the way when we saw Doc's family for New Year's Day one of his brothers gave us a Graduation/Wedding/Birthday/Christmas present that he bought us a year ago and not had the chance to give us. It was a Bose Wave music system, which is a tiny little stereo that Doc has been drooling over for years.

There is really nothing you can give a former sound engineer that will make him happier than really good speakers, that he can then wire up to the TV and every other electronic thing in the house.  The theme tune for "NCIS" rocks even more when you can properly appreciate the bass line, there may have been some dancing.

Extended Family.

Doc C is the youngest of eight kids, and today we met up with five of them. And their wives/husbands. And approximately forty children of assorted ages. I am exhausted.

Happy New Year's Eve!

It's snowing in Boston, and so our only trip out today was to the cinema to see "Young Victoria" (Emily Blunt was very good as the Queen, and Mark Strong is apparently set on cornering the market for Victorian/Edwardian villains this week) as we are staying at our friend Bob's house, we have made plans to stay in this evening.  We have bought hummus, pita bread, cake and wine, ordered Thai food and sourced a deck of cards.

Texas Hold 'Em and a fine selection of carbs shall ring in 2010.

Cigar Box Decoration.

Living with cats is, as I may have mentioned, like living with aliens.  There is human logic and there is cat logic, and they have almost no points of correlation. Nancy particularly loves sitting on a table and patting at objects until they fall over the edge, at which point she'll stare down at them from the table in surprise and then move on to the next object.  It's really funny and sweet when it's something you don't particularly care about, like a pen or a handful of change, but it does mean you have got to be careful where you leave things you do care about.  We are fairly certain Nancy knows what happened to Doc's wedding ring, but she's just not saying anything.

With Nancy's behavioural quirks in mind I decided to buy a small box to put on my bedside table, where it could hold all my important stuff.  So it needed to be big enough to hold my watch, my phone, my glasses and whatever jewelery I forgot to take off before getting into bed; but I didn't want an actual jewelery box, because I'm just damned awkward.

Fortunately there's a small newsagents near us that also sells cigars, and they also sell the empty wooden cigar boxes, so I bought one of those (Naturally I chose a box that used to house Churchills).  It's the perfect size, and it has the bonus of smelling nice. Over the original logo on the lid of the box I've added a skull sticker that my friends Laura and Jasmine gave me ages ago that I've been saving for the right project.  I love that you can still see the gold medals from the logo in Miss Skully's eyes!

Now I need to work out something fun to do with the sides of the box, and I think I'll be turning to a tip from Martha for that.  She mentions in her latest Christmas issue a brand of Japanese paper tape, which has lovely patterns printed on it.  Martha recommends it for wrapping gifts, of course, but I think that could work very well around the edges of the box, don't you?

Beautiful Birthday Cards.

Doc brought me home at lunchtime, and on the way we stopped off at the post office where there were very exciting parcels from my lovely Mum.  They weren't there yesterday, so her timing was pin-point accurate and all the more impressive for it!

One of my Mother's many many talents is her ability to find the perfect card for any occasion, so it's always a pleasure to open an envelope with her writing on.  Look at these beauties:

I think I may need to get these framed.

Just so stunning, and almost guaranteed to make any Londoner and/or Brightonian get a lump in their throat.    Mum got these from the Obiko website, and they are from the Seagull sites range.  Also, Mum tells me the artist was very nice too!

Birthday Wish List!

OMG! It's like eight days until my birthday!  And, weirdly, it's also eight days until Doc C's birthday too!  What a co-incidence!

It's one of those things about our relationship that we are just used to by now, so we discuss "Our Birthday" in much the same way as we discuss "Our Anniversary" or "Our Plans for Christmas"; but other people find it endlessly fascinating.  I can see how it's romantic, but it's also very convenient, in that there is no chance of one of us forgetting the other's birthday in that classic of sit-com plot lines. This year our combined birthday presents and Christmas presents to each other will be a trip to England, which is long overdue and I am so looking forward to it.

When my lovely Mother asked what we wanted this year, I sent her links to our Amazon Wish Lists.  Then I got overexcited, and turned it into a Wordle. As you do:

Of course in this format you can't really make out many individual items, but yes Tim Gunn is on there.  Admittedly in book and bobblehead form, but if anyone wants to send me Tim Gunn himself, well, feel free!

By the way, the type face I used for the "Birthday Wish List" caption on the Wordle is called Bleeding Cowboys, and that pleases me so much.

Hearts, Skulls and Punk Rock.

Look!  Jason sent Doc & I these cool Paperchase skull badges!  Aren't they fantastic?

Squee!

He also sent me a special wedding edition of Heat magazine.

Most enjoyable.