sometimes you gotta laugh

ah - it has been one of those days - (still is - i just had to retype that as my caps lock was on). the ones where you wake up tired, grab what you thought was a clean shirt only to realise on the train that is the shirt you hung back up because you decided it was no longer good enough to be a work shirt once you dropped a beet on one shoulder (what? this hasn't happened to you??) so you have to keep on your cardigan all day and it's muggy and hot in the office. and it's the day where you find out that "lots of furniture in storage" means "no furniture in storage" so your whole move programme needs to be altered and you have a packed day cause you have to leave early to get to an appointment near home.

you get on the wrong northern line tube because you forgot you were getting on at king's cross and not euston and have to get off at angel and switch and you almost miss the train you left early to catch but you run and just make it and get to your appointment only to realise you have left just enough time - maybe - to catch your train home from your appointment and if you miss it the next one is in an hour not half an hour like you thought because you always forget that. and the thought of an hour before you get home is frankly unbearable. so you power walk like a madwoman and it starts to rain and you get there and the train is delayed anyways and you are muggy and sweaty and just plain exhausted and you no longer care that your shoulder is beet-pink.

and you get home and feel snappy then apologise then say fuck it, i know it is wedensday and we are not drinking during the week (which is going very well and is improving life to no end generally) but sometimes you just need a beer. and then you whack your elbow - right on the funny bone - really really hard when you reach down to get the beer, and then , really, you just have to laugh.

swishy dress

yay for friends who pick up fabulous clothes at charity shops just in case. the case in question turned out to be a wedding we're going to in lisbon in august. and the dress is truly fab - black with white polka dots (about the size of a ten pence piece - the polka dots, not the dress - are you kidding? i am 35 and - if you're being kind - rounded. no flesh exposure here.) it's empire line, so i can eat like the piglet i am and best of all there is absolutely no danger of any bits falling out of said dress - not that this has ever actually happened to me, but the fear of it is always near when you are wearing strapless stuff.

i swore i wouldn't wear a dress to this wedding, not being overly fond of them and flat out (ha ha) refusing to wear heels. but a chic trouser ensemble will involve some sort of cash transaction, which is untenable in the CEC (current economic climate :) ) and best of all, this dress will ball up in the bottom of my backpack and not need ironing. no checked luggage on this trip - just the dress, a swimsuit, a pair of shorts and maybe 2 tshirts. we'll buy towels there.

i can't wait - i feel like i haven't been away in forever - not without an agenda anyways. i loved going home to canada this spring - no doubt about it - but i really really miss these long weekends in a new city. i've never been to lisbon and it looks like so much fun. and of course, the wedding itself will be lovely - i'm not into the wedding thing personally, but hey - if it's what you want, why not? these two are a great pair and i have every hope of happiness for them. anyways i'm getting ahead of myself - i just didn't want to sound like i only cared about ease of dress and wedding banquets! ok you can stop snickering now.

yarn fetishes

on tues, my friend k is going to attempt to teach me how to knit. in preparation, i went to the yarn shop in town and bought a brightly coloured soft ball of wool that the wise knitting woman assured me would be perfect for a beginner. I figured if the wool was pretty i'd have an easier time refraining from stabbing my own eyes out with the knitting needles in complete frustration at my inability to keep anything vaguely resembling a consistent stitch. (poor k has no idea what she has let herself in for.) i left the wool on the table and went to put away the groceries.

now humphrey, our greyhound, loves all things woolen. you cannot leave out knitted slippers, or scarves, and especially not mittens or gloves as they will rapidly be transported to the depths of his bed to be chewed/sucked/slurped over at his leisure. my fabulous mother crochets afghans and we learned early in our post-humph life to put them away if we wanted to keep them. if we forget and leave them on the couch, he is there like a shot, nesting away. have you ever tried to get dog hair out of an afghan? disgusting. this also explains why sometimes in the winter when people come over they see blankets on the table- left there to keep them out of humph's clutches and then forgotten about until blushes at table-setting time. last christmas mom solved the problem by crocheting humph an afghan of his own, bless her. he does love it but i think the lure of the forbidden plays a part in this as he'll still go for ours, given half a chance.

i'm sure you can work out what happened next.


"what? this wool? honestly, i have no idea how it got here - no siree. leading into my bed you say? lady i don't know what you're talking about..."

i hope k knows how to get it back to a usable ball again.

summertime

peace

this time last week, i was madly prepping potatoes and salads, sweeping up the garden, setting up garden furniture and trying (mostly successfully) not to panic. everyone arrived, and we had a lovely day. n's family are a charming and entertaining bunch, and this was the first time they had all seen each other in one place for 35 years.

n's sister and family left yesterday for france, and suddenly the house is quiet again.

and, in all of this chaos, i also had a job interview in london and got the job! i start tomorrow. it's for one of the london councils, so public sector, and it looks pretty straight-forward - managing the moves for several large projects. it's just down the road from my university which will make my life easier come autumn. the people seem very friendly, and i think i'll enjoy working in a less corporate environment. y'know, instead of working my arse off every day for corporations i actively oppose within a system i am ambivalent about at best.

so all change again. it certainly keeps life interesting :)