This is Me

I really want one of these, but they'll only sell them if you're in America. Damn and blast!

Last night, I thought that Plymouth was being invaded by space aliens. At midnight, all the usual fireworks were going off, but interspersed with them were lots of small orange glowing lights, which just kind of floated in sky. At first, I thought they were helicopters but then I realised there were far too many of them for that. And so I came to the (inevitable) conclusion that they must be intergalactic craft, piloted by space aliens. I was getting quite excited about this when Darren off of next door appeared on his patio and informed me that in fact they were some kind of lantern which apparently you light and then they float off. There we are, then...

My week in great detail...

Wednesday 23rd December
This was my last day at work before the Christmas break, and I worked hard all day long until 4.30pm when it was time to go home. I then caught the bus back to Milehouse and drove the rest of the way, and then spent the evening doing the Christmas food shopping, cooking dinner and finally chilling out with a glass of wine or two. Or three.

Thursday 24th December
Christmas Eve! I woke to find ice everywhere, and had to put table salt on the pavement outside our house in order to be able to get to my car. I needed to get to my car because I had to go to M&S to fetch turkey lurkey. After getting him I nipped to Tesco for a few bits and bobs and then came home and set to tidying my room, which desperately needed doing. Thankfully that didn't take too long and then I walked Dexter before reading for a while, dozing and then getting ready to go out. In the evening we went to the Positano in town, and I ate some scallops in a wine and cream sauce, followed by sea bream in a wine and herb sauce. It was blooming handsome!

Friday 25th December
Christmas Day! I got up at around half 8 and had a champagne breakfast before putting the turkey in and then opening presents. Then I had a read of one of the books I'd got while finishing the cooking, and after that it was time for Christmas lunch. When we'd finished eating we went for a brief walk down in Widewell Woods and then in the evening I cooked up a load of party food and we ate that and drank loads more boozes while watching telly.

Saturday 26th December
I had a hangover when I woke in the morning! I stayed in bed for a long time, watching the test match on the telly, and then slowly got myself up and walked Dexter before having a turkey sarnie, at which point I started feeling a bit brighter. Phew! Argyle won 1-0 at Cardiff, which was a shock, to say the least. Erm, what else...? Well, I watched telly again and drank more boozes and then cooked a rather delicious joint of roast beef in the evening.

Sunday 27th December
Do you know, apart from watching the cricket, I can't actually remember much of what I did on this day! That's appalling - it was only the day before yesterday! I know I'll have watched some cricket, and I will have walked Dexter, but that's all I can recall because I clearly had a very quiet day!

Monday 28th December
Okay, this was yesterday and I can just about remember it! I watched yet more of the cricket and particularly enjoyed seeing Alastair Cook get a century. I also walked Dexter twice and went to Tesco to get a ding for dinner and another ding for today's lunch. And I watched the Soccer "Saturday" thing and was astounded that Argyle won 4-1 at home. Mum was there and she was astounded as well! Then in the evening I cooked the ding and watched some telly while drinking a rather nice rosé.

Tuesday 29th December
Today! I was back to work but we didn't start until 10.00am so I still got a decent lie-in. I'd hoped to watch Ian Bell get a century but when he was on 96 and Prior got out I realised I couldn't hang around any longer. So sadly I missed it, but we were all keeping each other abreast of the situation in the office so we knew that things were going swimmingly. Work was fine - there were lots of jobs on the system and so it was nice and busy and went by very quickly. I'd parked at Active8 and so I was home just after 4.30pm, having nipped into Somerfield to get a couple of bits and bobs. Since getting home I've been vegged out on the sofa and I'm currently cooking tonight's dinner (well, I'm about to stick it in the oven) and watching the Top Songs of The Noughties, which is very entertaining.

A song which makes me cry.

I'm going to be generous today and give you two for the price of one. Because there are two songs which never fail to make me cry and those songs are You Could Be Happy by Snow Patrol and This Woman's Work by Kate Bush. I adore them both and refuse to choose between them.

So that's the meme done for today. What else is going on in the world?

Oh, I should post about the weekend. It was made of awesome.

I got the train early doors from Plymouth on Saturday and got into Manchester on time, which made a lovely change from last time! Our hotel was just up the road from the train station so I met Chen and we walked up to it and left our cases before going to Bella Italia and having a lovely lunch, served to us by Gloria the Waiter.

After lunch, we nipped back to the hotel and got into our room (which was awesome - City Inn is a great hotel!) and then went back out to do some serious shopping. We were on our feet for ages and were both in pains of agony by the time we arrived at a pub, but we had shopped quite well and I did manage to frighten Chen in The Disney Store by grabbing Kermit The Frog and shoving him in front of her face while shouting "ladies and gentlemen, it's The Muppet Show, yayyyyy!". There was also some flirting. We found an H Samuel and I wanted to show Chen the necklace I'm getting for Christmas, so we were looking in the window. This bloke asked me for my opinion on some necklaces and pointed out a few for me to compare. I told him which one I thought was best and I told him that whoever he was buying for would love it, before adding "And if she doesn't, I'll have it!" I have NFI where that came from, honestly! So yes, there was fright-making and flirting, and I think that constitutes a successful trip. We sat down outside the pub (in the cold) and I had a glass of wine, and then we headed off to the cinema.

The fillum we'd decided to see was Paranormal Activity. I'd read mostly good reviews, and they were spot on. It was one of the scariest films I've ever seen - very much in The Blair Witch Project mould and if you enjoyed that, it'd be right up your street. Every time it went to night time, I muttered "oh no", and I was really relieved when it finished. But I thoroughly enjoyed it - if you're looking for a good old scary film, this is for you.

After the fillum had finished we headed to Old Orleans and had a lovely meal and some cocktails in there while looking at the Craig-alike on the next table.

We'd both been shattered earlier on and had revised the original plans we'd had to hit Canal Street, but after sitting down in the cinema and the restaurant we'd got a second wind and we nipped back to the hotel to change before going out. The hotel was just hop, a skip and a jump to Canal Street, so we hopped and we skipped and we jumped and we ended up in Churchills again. It was mega busy but we managed to find somewhere to sit and we dodged the attentions of a very fruity guy who I think may have been called Ahmed (but it was hard to hear over the strains of Lady Gaga) and who would not leave us alone until I actually physically pushed him away and said "enough". After he'd gone, we had fun watching a guy in a black and white dog blanket shirt who was singing into a microphone fashioned from his own fist (don't mock, we've all done it). We also enjoyed perving over the guy dressed in gold hot pants. When Lady Gaga was played for about the 5th time we realised the time was going on for 3.00am and so decided to make a move, and we hopped, skipped and jumped back to the hotel where I crashed out on my bed and Chen put a 'pin the tail on the donkey' game onto the wall for me to wake up to on Sunday morning.

I woke before Chen a few hours later, and how I didn't wake her when I saw what was on the wall, I'll never know, because I was giggling away to myself. Chen woke in time for breakfast to be delivered (additional charge of £3.50 - so cheap!) and then I won at pin the tail on the donkey before opening a couple of presents (an amazing magic mug and a cross-stitch of The County Ground, which must have taken forever and which I just LOVE).

After checking out of the hotel we walked up to Albert Square to have a mooch around the Christmas market. It was good, but it was far too crowded for my liking and the ratio of food stalls to craft stalls was weighted too much in favour of the food stalls really. After a while we gave up on the market and headed back to The Disney Store, where Chen exacted revenge for Kermitgate by pulling the cord on some little thing and then holding it up towards me. I thought it was going to be singing but couldn't hear anything so I leaned closer and then it touched my ear and I realised it was vibrating, which made me jump half out of my skin!

Lunch was taken at the Hard Rock Café, and then sadly it was time to get our bags and say our goodbyes before heading home. My train left on time and despite being delayed getting into Birmingham New Street, I got in on time as well. Dexter was there on the platform to meet me (with mum), and I grabbed a burger on the way home before eventually falling into bed just about the right side of midnight.

It was a stonking weekend - a million thanks to Chen for being so awesome and for being such great company. I cannot wait until we do it again!

So, that was the weekend. What else...?

Argyle have sacked Sturrock. Kind of. He's still there doing something, but Paul Mariner (who has weird glasses) appears to now be in charge of the team. Except it's all going a bit pear shaped to be honest. Two days ago it was reported that Argyle would soon have a 46,000 seater stadium. I thought this was a tad strange because they're lucky if they get 10,000 in these days. Yesterday, it was announced that because Argyle haven't paid their debts, they're now the subject of a transfer embargo. Mariner said he was relaxed about this. However, he also said there were positives to take from the defeat at Preston on Saturday, so he does seem to have a mind which works in odd ways. Anyway, today we've been told that if (and it's a big if) England are successful in their 2018 World Cup bid, Plymouth will be one of the host cities. So it's a bit of a roller coaster ride down here at the minute, football-wise!

The buses appear to have gone tits up. Yesterday, it took me nearly 90 minutes to get home. Today, it took well over an hour. And the bus driver was obviously trying too hard to make up time because he approached the Manadon Flyover far too fast and then had to stand on his brakes to avoid a collision and I almost fell right off my seat. I don't know whether it's connected, but for some reason my left leg is now hurting really badly and I can barely walk. Ouchies.

And finally - tomorrow is my birthday (24 again) and I am working until around 11.45am and then I'm going to finish my Christmas shopping before coming home and getting my nails done - huzzah!

And that's me. Phew, that went on a bit, didn't it!

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, what with all this weather we've been having. Yes, the conservatory has gone and sprung a leak and in last night's torrential rain we had water running down the wall and onto the floor. We've caught it in a bowl so hopefully the floor won't be damaged, and I'm hoping also that it hasn't got into the electrics. We'll be ringing Stormseal or whatever they're called tomorrow to get them out to fix it because thankfully it's under warranty.

Another thing which didn't go to plan yesterday was that my rhubarb crumble turned out to be apple crumble instead. It was nice, but it wasn't what I'd wanted and it's also a bit annoying because now I'll have to go down to the square to complain and get a refund.

I'm tired today because the weather kept me awake half the night. This means I'm also grumpy. And in a minute, I have to start putting the deccies up and then go to Tesco for food shopping and neither of those will improve my mood. However, my chores are done I can then spend the rest of the day writing, so that should help matters somewhat. *crosses fingers*

Wow, Barnsley are going to be pretty pissed off right about now. 4-1 up they were at Home Park, and the game's just been abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch! Unbelievable, Geoff!

The weather is pretty shocking, to be fair. It started raining at around 2.00pm and has been bucketing it down ever since. We've even had thunder and lightning! According to the weather forecast, we were meant to have 'showers' today. Well, this is one big shower, I tell you. I'm just waiting for mum to ring from the Park & Ride now, so that I can go and fetch her. She'll be soaked to the skin if she tries walking back from there!

Mum's off to Swansea tomorrow, for a few days, so we're marking her last night in Plymouth by having naughty food, aka chicken Kiev with cauliflower cheese and cheesey mash. Also, wine will be involved. *nods*

First though, I'm going to continue with the fic I've been working on all week, which is coming along quite nicely, even if I do say so myself!

I mentioned yesterday that Martyn had gone and bought something for Kate's birthday which I'd bought her ages ago for Christmas. Kate said that she'd ask at Tesco locally about whether they could exchange it but they're saying they won't exchange it unless it's faulty. Are they actually allowed to do that? It seems a bit mean to me. Does anyone know what the law says about this kind of stuff?

I'm loving today, so far.  I had to get up twirly but apart from that and the fact that all the Saturday Peter Kay tickets appear to be sold out already, my Saturday has gone swimmingly.

The reason I had to get up twirly is because I had an appointment to get my hair done at 9.00am.  I'm really pleased with the result - it's the same colour as before but it a little bit shorter and now when I tuck it behind my ears, it doesn't go all wispy and funny-looking.

So that was that.  Then I went into M&S to get a ding for this evening because I couldn't be arsed to cook or go out.  I've come back with two fillets of trout with crab and red pepper, topped with breadcrumbs, and some potatoes and asparagus tips to go with them.  And chocolate pots for dessert.  And two (yes, two) bottles of Petit Chablis.  Do not expect to get any sense out of me later on if I appear online!  I was a Good Citizen while I was at M&S as well.  There was an old(ish) lady in front of me and she was so busy trying to pack all her shopping into her little trolley and get instructions from the cashier as to where to go to get it packed into her car that she almost left her purse behind and would have gone off without it had I not spotted it and caught her attenton.  Bless her.

I got home just in time to avoid the worst of the rain, which was bloody ridiculous at times.  It was like being in Belgium only with gale force winds.  I was sat in the conservatory this afternoon and it was just like someone was chucking buckets of water at the windows.  Bonkers weather.  Still, I'm not moaning because it could be so much worse.  It's just a bit of rain and we're not in danger of flooding or anything thankfully.  We're very lucky indeed.

So, what else...?  Oh, I had a lovely cheese and ham omelette for lunch, and then I've spent the last four hours out in the conservatory, reading The Chocolate Run by Dorothy Koomson.  I'm so glad I finished it at home and not on the bus.  It made me blub.  A lot.  In several places.  I'm so glad that me_unabridged introduced me to Dorothy Koomson - I've loved every single one I've read now, they're wonderful.

So once I'd finished that I brought myself back into the house proper and now I'm sat on the sofa with half an eye on Soccer Saturday (although I have to keep averting my gaze each time Matthew Le Tissier appears), listening to Euphoria and trying to decide whether to start work on the fic that popped into my head last night/this morning or whether to leave it until tomorrow.  Decisions, decisions...

This evening, I'm going to be having a nice long soak in the bath whilst starting another book (probably one of the Dean Koontz ones) and sipping a glass of wine, and then I'm going to get myself straight into my PJs, cook dinner, eat dinner, curl up on the sofa, watch telly and drink more wine.  I think I can cope with that.

The storm's been here for a few hours now, and I'm getting a little bored with all the noise.  It's raining on and off (that's meant to be at its worst at around 6.00am tomorrow) and the wind is just blowing around at ludicrous speed, it's mental. 

I was so lucky on the journey home though.  It had been raining hard all afternoon but eased for a short time and I managed to get from the office up to the bus stop (about a half mile walk) without getting too wet.  I did get blown sideways a few times by strong gusts (nearly into the road at one point, which was a bit hairy) but the rain held off until about 30 seconds after I'd got under the shelter at the bus stop and then it lashed it down!  The bus was only a few minutes late and although the traffic was a bit slow up to Manadon it wasn't anything too awful.  I noticed that the A38 was solid heading towards Cornwall, and when I got home I found out that the Tamar Bridge was down to one lane and was closed to high sided vehicles and caravans, so everything was moving very slowly.  It sounds as though soon after we cleared the area, gridlock ensued - people are moaning on the thisisplymouth website that it took them hours to get from one place to another.  Someone said they were two hours late for a family dinner, trying to get from Manadon to Ernesettle, which is a journey of about three miles or so.  Nightmare!

I've had a nice relaxing evening.  We watched our usual stuff (Eggheads and Escape to the Country) and then the final part of Collision, which was very good indeed, followed by Armstrong & Miller.  I had planned on watching the end of the T20 between England and South Africa but the weather over there put paid to that.  I didn't mind too much though because England won on Duckworth Lewis - huzzah!

My plans for tomorrow involve staying out of the weather, having a lie-in, trying to finish the book I'm reading (still The Stranger House) and attempting to write 7,500 words of my NaNoWriMo story in an attempt to catch up to the word count a little.  I'm also going to cook dinner in the evening and I think I'm going to have a glass of wine, as well.  I reckon I can just about cope with all that!

Has anyone on here made a custom mood theme, using their own photos?  If so, is it easy?  And bearing in mind that I'm a hopeless technophobe, do you think I'd be able to do it?