Flying today !

So the day has finally arrived - we are flying back to SA today for a WHOLE month. I just cant wait to get back to the warm weather and away from the freezing weather here!

I was over the moon come friday when it was my last day of work - OMG was i happy to walk out that door for a month. It has been absolutly crazy until now where we are finally packed and waiting for the cad which will be here in 45 mins.

anyway this is just a little post to say happy christmas and new year to everyone if I dont blog before then. I will of course have my baby (laptop) with me as I could never leave it for a month - can you say addicted!

So cheers England..hello Cape town !! YAY

Busy busy and still sick :(

Well my attempt to keep up with my blogging is being thwarted !! bloody work - I mean really.

It seems that once we cut people at work not only have we had extra work to make up for their absense but we suddenly started winning pitches and gettting a load more pitch work to do. So we have been run off our feet. And yesterday it got even worse. We normally have about 2 weeks to work on a pitch before presenting. Yesterday we had 3 companies demanding a presentation for the end of this week. Everybody trying to get things sorted before christmas and holidays. Plus all the jobs that we have won lately are all wanting to be on site before Christmas which means drawing packs to get out so that they can actually build. So work life is a delicate balance and juggling act at the moment. But I only have to do it for 3 more days !! YAY

Highlight of the weekend was heading off to a gig down in Camden at Underworld. A friend had extra tickets so C and I got them. It was a ska band called Streetlight Manifesto. Which was awesome. It was a small intimate venue sold out and full of massive fans. The entire space was one big varing degrees of mosh pit. It was great! I just thrive on that kind of energy. The opening act was pretty cool too!! They were Random Hands. So it was an awesome night with some very cool friends!

Last night was a nice night of christmas cake and red wine at Mr & Dr I. They invited us around for christmas cheer and it landed up being one of those situations where you have no idea if there will be present exchanging or not. And you cant ask if there is going to be because if they arent then they will feel forced into it. OMG the admin! So C and I decided to go with the token present thing. We went for a stroll down the street market near work and picked out a pair of "cost effective" earrings for Dr I and a Rubiks cube and a book as a bit of a joke for Mr I.

We did arrive to gifts and they got us a book on all the British festivals and the first series of the Sarah Connor Cronicles. Dr I seemed to love the earring so much that there were even tears. I was completely taken aback but it also reminded me why i love giving presents. I love it when I get someone a present that suits them so much. That is thier style or that they really wanted or didnt even know they wanted until you gave it to them. So that was nice. I actually was a really cool way to start a week.

Well I have to be up early for a physio appointment (finally trying to get my back pain sorted) and we have want should be a great night planned for tmr. We won tickets to a dinner theater thing - for the South Africans...its Madam Zingara. Hopefully i'll be able to blog about that later in the week.

Oh yeah and btw ...I hate the whole secret santa thing...this is what I got ....

Racing Spiders. HUH??? i mean we are supposed to spend £5 ...which I actually spent £6 on the one I gave and how much could these have cost. It is just weird. I hate having to open this shit in front of everyone else and seeing all the way cooler stuff that was being given. I one that I would have loved was a large "rubber" duck for the bath that also is a radio...you twist its head to turn it on and then twist the tail for find the frequency.

oh well

Sick and tired

So the weekend in Madrid had its high points and its low points but on a whole was a very cool weekend away. I will def have to write a post about it when i have more time to sit down and add some of my pictures to it as well !

But I was feeling pretty exhausted and not too well for most of it and by the sunday night as I got home and was recieved by HUGE hugs I had no voice and was full on infected!! So come Monday morning I just could not move!! Same with Tuesday!

Since I was starting to feel better I thought I would go into work on the Wednesday for a nice mid week ease back into work...oh no...that was not what Miss Trendy had in mind. I came back to an A4 list of things to do with the title URGENT WEDNESDAY WORK. I mean really - she never once replied to the fact that I was off sick and then didnt even bother to find out if I was well enough to come back to work. That is an insane day back at work and now i'm not feeling any better and maybe perhaps a bit worse.

Oh well - it is Friday tmr and i'm about to leave the office - YAY.

We are doing secret santa at work tmr morning so had to do a bit of rush present buying and wrapping...while still trying to keep it secret. I'm not sure about this whole secret santa thing though. In our company it seems to be about buying tat for you as a joke that is supposed to say something about you. Last year I landed up with 2 gifts...go figure... and one was a usb table lamp in purple and the other was a doll called little miss perfect. The doll seriously disturbed me. I get that the light is all about being designer "cusion placer". But the little miss perfect ...I mean what was that trying to say about me...was it a compliment or an insult? I still dont know and it still bothers me. This is why i'm a little nervous about the gift giving tmr morning. I hope it is something kinda nice.

Off to Madrid

Ok so - have no time to actually write anything since i have to be up in 5 hours to head to the airport...as C keeps reminding me from the bed!! So am off to Madrid tomorrow with the whole company for our christmas party - is going to be very cool (i hope, i'm always aprehensive about these things.

On the other front i'll hopefully be free of the 5 DAY migraine that i've been living through. Went to a cool new doctor this afternoon - have nice strong painkillers and medication toprotect my tummy so no more ulcers for me :) So all is looking good... plus soon i'll be heading on the ovely long holiday home.

ok i seriously have to go now before the bf kills me and so I wont be too grumpy when i have to get up and 04:30 am!! ARG

ARG

TOO much work, TOO much pain, TOO much stress...NOT a happy bunny am I.

Well last week consisted of some late nights of work and some very early mornings to work for me. And mad pressure to get a presentation together. Thankfully it was worth it since we did win the job.

Work has just been flat out and there is no letting up. My weekends now consist of me sleeping 12 hours each night and basically only being able to get myself out for 1 outing per weekend. PATHETIC ...and NO FAIR! So now i'm just counting down the days until I dont have to think about work for 30 days...19 days to go !!! Well technically 18 since today is mostly done.

Plus working flat out is pretty difficult if you've had a migraine since yesterday.

oh well,

that is all i can say for now...sorry for the ramble

Cow Economics

I just love this bit C found on the internets this weekend....

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk
away…

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of
credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity
swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with
a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a
Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the
rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one
more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you
with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three
cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and
produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called ‘Cowkimon’ and market it
worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk
themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the **** out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy….

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

Strange days

It really has been a strange few days, I dont even know where to start...

The horrid friday was all about work that I had on that I just couldnt seem to get done by the deadline since it was things that got changed on me and then crazy requests like try and get 6 pages of a A4 word document with text and tables onto ONE A3 power point presentation slide!! (I still cant figure that out). It was a seriously stressful day and I was trying to make it work out but when you also have to go thing like recreate excel documents it get time consuming.

Our electrical contractor was throwing us a Christmas party in a casino and all the girls going were going to get all dressed up in party dresses etc. So we had to get ready - the plan was to be ready by 6pm...now since i was working away on Miss Trendy's work I would have thought since she was getting ready too she would make a comment that she was off to get ready - but no she didnt seem to be talking to me. I finally realise that it is 5:55 and I'm not ready. I go through to find that the rest of the people are all waiting in reception all ready to go - fuck i was pissed off and the flippant comment "oh you still coming" Damn i was pissed off.

Anyway it did ruin the evening over all as it was loads of fun. We got the the casino and went through the whole sign in process and then were lead off to a private bar area where the free drinks began. We then were shown to the practice tables where they had a roulette, poker and blackjack table set up to teach us the games etc. This was great fun and I def learnt loads. Plus it is cool to practice with worthless chips. We were also served nibbly foods and more champayne and alcohol. We then got given £50 worth of real chips to go play with on the real tables.... scary !

I didnt do to badly as i chose the blackjack table which I was so good on at the practice that I won a poker set :) I didnt walk away with anything but the girl i was couching did - me thinks I was concetrating enough on my own cards.

I then stumbled home getting the very last northen line home (so lucky!) and crawled into an empty bed...No C until the sunday afternoon... he was off playing in Brighton.

I was rudely awoken by the alarm clock at 6am and i nearly threw it across the room and cursed C for not showing me how to turn it off. I finally get it to shut up and in the proccess apparently turned the 2nd alarm on that made it go off at 8:30. Damn now i was unhappy and hung over. managed to turn it off and turned over and went back to sleep only to wake up at 14:39!! OMG I've slept over 12 1/2 hours! crazy stuff.

So the rest of the weekend was nothing special and involved me not going very far from the warmth of home.

Monday bought with it work issues with me being bitched at by Miss trendy about the Friday stuff and getting a bit of a lecture - I'm not convinced it was all fair and neccessary but hey I have to move on and not get stressed about it. So I just carried on working as usual. It is now Wednesday and I've out worked her and am now waiting on her to get her workload sorted. ANYWAYS

Now for the strangest and saddest day... Terrible Tuesday.... Tuesday morning started off really weirdly with Miss quiet (my friends and neighbour at work) went away then came back picked up her bag, put on her coats and was walking out...I knew she wasnt planning to be out the office so looked up and one look I knew something was really wrong. She couldnt even talk just mouthed at me she would text me and then left.

I then find out that 6 people from the company have been made redundant which is 1 or 2 per dept! We were all in shock yesterday and didnt really know what to do with this information. And as everyone just up and left there were no good byes - it was very weird. But it also feels was to close to home. Miss quiet is brilliant and her job and def better then me on the drawing front. But they cut support staff so that is why she got cut out of the design dept. I already miss her!

This now means that since the design dept is smaller we are no having to move onto one bench...this means i'm back at the first desk i started off on here which has me with my back to the entire open plan office so they can all see what is on my 2 screens!! FUCK! so this means no more blogging at work, less email and who knows about chat.... Actually I dont know if I'll have to time to do anything as the workload that Miss quiet had will have to fall to someone so that means knock on effect is me having to do more random work. ARG

Now I hear that she or her husban ended up in a car accident last night. AND so did our design director (Posh Scot) What was the universe thinking yesterday!!!

The one funny thing that happened yesterday ...after wonderful talk with my dad (he is doing very well considering) I landed up missing a call from C and then having to run for the bus... I get on the bus, stap upstairs, sit down at the front and call C... Next thing I can hear his phone ringtone, and then not only do i hear him on the phone I hear him in the distance too...So I look up to the glass and there he is in the reflection in the window, sitting half way down the bus.... we had managed to unplanned get onto the same bus. What a wonderful surprise! :)

Horrible Friday

What a horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible HORRIBLE friday!!!!
(I feel a little better after that)

Am now off to the Casino for some free gambling - I hope this makes up for the shit day and doesnt make the day shitter...

Wish me luck

Laptop Pimping

Lookie what i've done to my laptop ...isnt it pretty like :)
And an update: My dad is doing much better. He isnt on so much morphine so much more coherent. The operation he had is called an axial bi-femoral bypass. They have used the artery on the right side of his chest and done a softgel graft into the right leg. Then they have gone across his stomach area with another graft into the left leg. Apparently you can feel the softgel thing under his skin. He is bruised everywhere and in alot of pain. but his heart beat is very good and even though his lungs have taken a hit he is doing good. He should be out of ICU tonight or tomorrow. He is still a tough guy at 76 that is for sure.

Wedding gift

So i've been waiting awhile to do this post. Had to wait until I had actually given the couple my gift before posting it online.

So this is another of my ceramic pieces. It is a wedding vase - based on the tradional native vases. It is my architectual modern take on it.

Operation Monday

Sadly I have to report that there where more complications with my Dad. Due to his lifetime of smoking it has been discovered that he has plaque in his arteries which means that they are thinning and the blood is not getting through. This was causing no blood to get to his legs which caused his leg to become extremely painful and therefore this was all discovered. At this very moment he is now having parts of his arteries up near his heart replaced by fake ones. And all of this needs to be done by epidural again because of the years of smoking. It all makes me want to tell all the smokers out there that it isnt all about the cancer you could possibly get...it is definite that later in life all these complications are going to cause problem after problem.

Anyways..so sending out all the positive vibes I can this morning.

And I just have to say that I have the most wonderful and supportive and amazing bf that I really dont know what I would do without. He bring so much good into my life and I hope he know just how I love him and how happy he makes me. (sorry for all the soppiness babes)

He has just come out of surgery and it all seems ok - now we just see how the recovery goes.

Halloween Carpet Event

Last week Thursday night in honour of Halloween one of our carpet suppliers organised an event (as they do) and invited our design dept as some of the lucky few. It was a little different then the usual supplier/furniture event where you just stand around trying to get your hands on the food floating past while they have no problem providing copious amount of alcohol that just appears in your glass. This event included a Jack the Ripper walking tour! Now if you know me then you know that I could never say no to this!
About 7 of us headed down to the carpet showroom after work which they had done all out in Halloween stuff... included the very first carved pumpkin I've seen (it was seriously intricate!)This is where I discovered winter Pimms and i love it! It is basically heated up pimms cocktail and it was so divine as it was freezing outside! and we were soon to be head back out into the cold for the walking tour.
We were split into groups and ferried off to the start of the walk in the east end. The guides are beefeaters at the tower of London and this was their moonlighting gig which means that they were absolutely brilliant at giving tours as they do it all day long. We got a big burly barrel of a man with a booming voice - it was perfect. I also found out that the beefeaters and their families actually live on the grounds of the Tower of London - how insane must that be to have as your address!

For the next 2 hours we meandered around the east end getting told all the stories of each murder and being showed where each one took place. It was so detailed and sometimes it was hard to keep up with all the information. Luckily I knew quite a bit already. I did find out loads more though and just love all the useless pieces of information.

One of the best parts was the whole conspiracy theory around the Freemasons and the Prince of wales ...This is sort of how it all goes in a nutshell...

Firstly the way the bodies were placed references on of the main Freemasons stories
about how the architect of King Solomons buildings was a Jew (spelt Juw by only the Freemasons) and how once he was complete with the building he was given freedom BUT if he betrayed any of the secrets of the building and King Solomon he was be
killed in a very specific way (this is replayed in a ritual today by the Freemasons - the guides brother is one) and this is replicated in all but the last murder. The
last girl murdered was the only one murdered inside in her own apartment. She
was a redhead with green eyes and was a prostitute to Buckingham palace. She was also roman catholic.

The Prince had a thing for redheads with green eyes. She then left the
royal brothel before the murders started. They reckon that the Price got her pregnant and that would have been fine if she wasn't Catholic. It was over heard that the head of the city police (a Freemason) had said to the Prince that the prince's
troubles would be over before his birthday. The last murder happened 3 days
before his birthday.

It is thought that a down on his luck Freemason was paid to
kill her. The first murder had been to see if he had the guts to do it and the
2nd was a woman with red hair and green eyes and her uterus had been removed (to hide a pregnany)...mistaken identity perhaps. Then there was a break of 3 weeks before the last murders. So they had thought he had killed the right girl. 3 weeks
later the 3rd one was probably to test the waters again but he got disturbed
just as he had killed her...so he rampaged off and killed another girl just over
the boundary into the city police jurisdiction.

Then the police found an inscription in an alleyway near by written in chalk where they also found some of the blood stained dress of victim #4. This was an inscription that probably means only something to the Freemasons as it used the Freemasons spelling of the word Jews. The same head of police that was overheard saying the stuff to the Prince only got out of bed and came down to east london with the news of this and ordered it to be washed off immediatly but ignored the murders that night.

Finally the last murder was the most grusome since it was in her apartment he had all the time in the world to "destroy" the evidence. which he seriously did... here is the photograph that the City police took (they were the only police force with a camera)
...

Well that is basically it - written very badly! But I def like this theory to it. I think that all the freemason architecture and temples in this city also aid the love of a freemason conspiracy!

After the FREEZING 2 hours of walking around in heeled boots we got taken back to the showroom for those nibbley foods and lots of alcohol! Why on earth did I do this in heel I hear you say - well they are knee height boots...lets just say my feet and legs may have been sore but they werent too cold...the rest of me i'm not so sure about. And then seriously what is with sneaky cocktail pouring waiters that have to fill you glass up so many times that you loose count of how many drinks you had! It wasnt too bad and I toddled off home and was pleasantly surprised when I had no hangover on Friday!

Slipping and sliding...

So want to hear the STUPID thing that happened this morning?..

I walked out our gate turned onto the pavement and heel of shoe slipped and down I went. I was seriously taken by surprise. This is a first for me...I dont fall down much, i'm not clumsy and I have a great sense of balance. But this morning there was just no stopping me going down. It happened so fast ! I know that I realised that my heel was slipping but this does happen, but I never actually go down. I was walking and then I was lying on the ground! It was that fast. My hand did get out enough to stop me from really slamming into the pavement but now it is slightly grazed and my elbow is sore from the shock it took.

I obviously picked myself up just as fast ...shot a look around to see if anyone had seen it ...and just my luck yes there was the cleaner that had finally cleaned all the slippery mulshy leave up (yet I did come asunder on those?!?!)

Now here is the kicker of the story... He decided that he had to tell me that I was wearing the wrong shoes! and proceded to LECTURE me on this fact ! I tried to walk past quickly and get away from the scene but to no avail - he was now following me!! So what could i do but stop and listen to his lecture since he was not going to be put off.

Street cleaner: Those are the wrong shoes. You shouldnt be wearing those heels!

Me: I have to for work, I work in the city and it is very corporate (while walking past as carefully and as quickly as possible)

SC: (running after me) Well then you should be wearing shoes like these (pointing at his leather construction steel toed boots with hiking type soles) and change them at work into those high heels.

Me: But this is the first time it has happened to me

SC: If it had been below zero last night you could have broken something now when you fell and then you would be off work for months. Its not worth it.

Finally I admit that i'm not used to the weather and the semantics of the shoes versus the pavement as I was from South Africa... That seemed to explain it all and he just went "Ahhhhh" and went back to his work.

How embarassing !!

All over the place

My head is seriously fried at the moment. I've been working non stop and that is all that it feels like i've been doing but it is only Thursday...I need this weekend to hurry up and get here.

My attention span is shot and I cannot consentrate on anything for more then 3 seconds! It is driving me up the wall. So this is going to be one seriously disjointed post as I cant seem to write more then a few sentances and then i'm wandering off to try do other things.

Firstly - My dad is doing well, all the cancer was taken out and it didnt get to the bone - so all is well. He is now not to move his leg until monday and he is so going to go made with boredom now!

#2 - Go check out my bit about the gallery, museum and Dinner we did last well ...HERE at my 101 things project. We got to see grown men prancing around in gladiator suits!! how cool is that. lol


3 = Thank you so much to Miss Caughtup for sending a Kreative blog award my way. I'm still in awe that people with such great blog read my little thing.

Fouth thing - C and I went on a very cool guided walk around Chealsea last friday for free as arranged by the londonist. It was very cool and I really enjoyed all the random stories and myths and pop culture. What a fasinating guy, Chris, that took it. I'll go find the links just now. He does a publication called One Eye Grey which is stories written of folklore and myths but set in the current london. We did buy 3 editions and i'll hopefully get around to reading them soon. Then we did land up eating dinner at the Mc Donalds - but we just had to after find out that it was the building/shop that the drug shop that the rolling stones used to hang out it. What a strange turn around from drug shop to Mc D's.

#5 - OMG it is now suddenly FREEZING ...and this sudden "cold snap" caused us to have SNOW in Oct (this is very weird as it hasnt snowed in oct for 70 odd years) So once I eventually made it out of the freezing col house the other morning I did catch the last bits of the snow in the back garden. But the thing about all this is that we still havent sorted out the heating that from some STRANGE reason got completely turned off for summer. But now that it is SO cold we are seriously needing to organise the gas guy to come back and turn it on. The hitch to doing this is the fact that this means we have to turn our bedroom into a lounge and hide all the bedroom stuff.... so that is the mission this weekend - oh joy



And that is all i think i have for today.

Dad's going for surgery!

So it was just over a week ago that I found out that my has a skin cancer growing on his leg that one doctor was treating as a skin infection and the 2nd doctor treated it as a skin infection that got into the bone. He has been in pain for over 6 months now. Finally by going to a plastic surgeon to see about tidying up the "skin infection" and he was the one that spotted it as cancer.

The result of all this...well tomorrow (thanks to a cancellation - otherwise the wait was going to be 3 weeks!) he is going into hospital to have it cut out of his leg and new skin graphted onto the area. The area that going to have to be removed is the size of a side plate. But the horrid part is that he cant be put under a general anesthetic as he is a smoker with seriously bad lungs and asthma! So it is all going to be done with a local anesthetic. Now since I just had one for them to put the implant into my arm and that still hurt and i had to feel it I seriously feel for him having to go through that.

So now we are just holding thumbs that the cancer hasnt got to the bone and the malignant part it able to be taken out completely!

My thoughts & love are with you Dad
xxx

Survey hell continues

But now it is a furniture audit that is doing my head in. Seriously i've now had 2 weeks of surveys and drawings up of surveys! This is just getting too much now!

And to top it all off....I have to go survey another space tomorrow morning ! I mean really - WTF is going on! I hate surveys and i'm not the best at them since i'm kinda dislexic and stuff. There are always measurements that i get messed around.

Anyways have to get back to the planning the audited furniture into the new buildings...

Here is just how much furniture i had to measure and note and photograph and draw up:

Monday craziness

So what is driving me mad today ?? Well the survey that was sending me round the bend last week has now taken the madness a step further.

These are the elevations I now have to draw from the survey... These are the first 4 i've drawn this morning... There are 32 that need to be done by the end of the day !!! I'm already exhausted and no where near finished - now i have food in me.. back to the crazy world of my drawings.

Reasons my bf makes me laugh ....

I am currently out of the office...

Doing an elevational survey on the most horrid grade 2 listed building!! There isnt a straight wall in the entire 6 floors ! Wall lean outwards or inwards. Half the building has dropped at different levels on different sides to the building which means that the floors and ceiling are all different heights everywhere that you measure ! It is just HORRIBLE !!! And i'm doing this all alone in the building that creaks and moves and has some very strange noises. I tried putting my ipod in but it was just to unnerving as i was still hearing things.

I suppose this is all to be expected when we are dealing with a building that was built in 1860 odd. And used to be the gardens of King Henry the 2's mistress. (weird fact for the day)

It is just insane fiddlily and time consuming survey work when you have to measure every little detail. Like the window frames & panes of french sash windows, and panelled doors and walls and light switches and plug points, and dado rails and cornices (there are 3 at the top of EVERY wall) etc etc etc...this is going to drive me mad! And i'm going back for more tomorrow!!! only 4 more floors to go !!!

If i'm not back by friday then you'll know i've been locked away in the looney bin!

Friday Blues...

So i'm back at work and not too hapy about it. I feel like i'm seriously lacking in sleep now that it is the end of the day since i've been sleeping during the day for the last 3 days. Plus I think I kept waking myself up when I rolled onto my arm in the night. My arm has a bloody great big (ok maybe not that big) hole in it from having the contraceptive implant inserted.

I am so happy about this!! I have a very good feeling about it as well as being happy that i'm now truely 100% certain not to fall pregnant. And since everyone around me is doing it or thinking of it etc I def want to be certain I dont fall into that trap ! ! lol They took a big hollow needle with a 5 cm implant rod inside, out the needle into my arm under the skin for about 6am and then took it out leaving the implant behind. Thankfully there was an injection to numb the area! otherwise we are talking serious piercing pain. But it is def sore at the moment esp if it gets banged.

So anyway, back at work, still feeling sick (not as bad as the rest of the week but bad enough to make work unpleasent) Trying to actually get drawings done (not happening) and generally not feeling in a happy socialble mood! I just want to go home and get some sleep or veg out and watch a movie.

There is ONE wonderful happy thing to this friday ... Miss Unhinged is leaving today !! SHe is going to move to the middle east and work for our company there. Just to quickly fill in she is the designer that made life a bit miserable for the 6 months I worked under her. She also caused me a great deal of insecurity and that I was not impressed with. I played a few office politics and got myself moved away from her. I just have to point out that in the year that she has been here she has only seen 1 project to the end (and there was another senior designer on it) And has only 2 other projects running at the moment. That is it. She hasnt won a pitch of her own while she has been here - and she was supposed to be my mentor. I have to say that I'm pretty glad to see the back of her. BUT I do know that things in her personal life havent been the best and as a person I do wish her the best in her new path. I hope she makes it work for her there. Otherwise it is just going to break her if it doesnt.

So with that I'm going to hunt the bf down and go home. Oh and I've realised that DAMN do we email each other alot during the day ! It is very rare to get through a work day with no communication at all!

ME

So i've actually been home sick in bed for the last 3 days - and bored out of my mind. I actually dont like being home sick. I think I figured out why. It is fear. The fear of being stuck in bed unable to get better and get out of bed. This is all cause I was bedridden solidly for 3 months and have had long periods of convalesing. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ...I have written about this before - click here.

I've also realised that i hate taking sick days off of work cause deep down I think that people at work do not believe me. This is all due to the stigma that people dont understand the CFS and think that you can just be better like it is just normal flu. Or they cant understand just how bad it can get. Also haveing had the worst while I was at school always lead to constant comments from fellow students that I must be faking it - and it is amazing how that sticks with you.

I just know from the experience of having it for the last 9/10 years that no one really understands it unless you've had it. And even then it affects people differently. Recently I have found that there is def more support groups and organisations here aimed at us sufferers - well I never found any in Cpt. So lately I've been reading a few of the forums and websites and it really is amazing to me that there are just SO many definitely diagnosed cases that are so similar to mine. There are even terminology that I only used for lack of any actual terminology like "brain fog" and I find that there are people out there using it as well.

I found reading the site both uplifting and depressing. Reading peoples account where they are still in the early days and at the worst was interesting - I just wanted to get ahold of them and tell them that you do come through the worst. But it also reminded me that I have this, there is no doubt. I do have this and will always pretty much have it! I'm so lucky that I'm actually very pysically strong at the moment and it is esp amazing that I have a sport - climbing. So few of us sufferers have this. But I do have to becareful and always remember that if I push things too far when I'm run down I may just push it too far and land up stuck in bed again - and I never want that again.

So while reading through things I came across this semi poem written by a sufferer and it rang true with me (not the suicidal bits - I was never in that state as I was always able to keep my head from going that far)

Person with ME
Carol

Who am I?
The mind is such a complex part of human anatomy
How do we start to analyse who we are or who we want to be?
Some two years and eight months ago, I became so very ill
But positive in nature, believed I'd battle it with sheer will
However, this was not to be - my mind and body weak
No control I had of anything, just pain and eyes so bleak
Tests and scans that followed were all surprisingly clear
How could I feel so ill inside, my mind so numb with fear?
The most minimal of tasks were so exhausting to the brain
A phone call or a visitor - plagued me with migraine
I had no life, no function, could not grasp reality
So scared was I, who am I? what will become of me?
No matter who's around you, you always feel alone
How can anyone really help you?
You're in this on your own
I'm not a quiet person, who just muddles through the days
I'm always such a happy thing - the 'life and sole' so they say....
But, my life was shattered instantly when I discovered 'm.e.'
I had no strength to fight it, in a world too dark to see
Why did the sound of summer birds drive me near insane?
A gun to the head - was this the way to take away my pain?
I'd wake up in the morning wishing the day would pass
Then praying for the darkness, and quietness at last
No pills, no cure, no anything, to ease this bane of my life
If I were a dog they'd shoot me - then to a land of 'paradise'
These thoughts I had so many times, because I had no guarantee
Who was to say I'd be well next year - it was really just 'wait and see'
Months and months passed slowly, now I never dare look back
Although on a slow recovery - I'm on a recovery track
Each week is a rollercoaster, not knowing how I will be
Many days in bed like a zombie, yet another day, making tea!
My mind is still a mystery - my memory - what's that?
I forget so many daily things, and repeat the same old chat!
Well, I know I'm still a long way off until I'm fit again
But, now, the days I cope with and never wonder - when?
I'm sure there's many people who relate so much to this
And my message to them all, from my heart, is simply this ....
Don't fight this dreadful illness, but accept and live it through
And with gradual slow activity, your life will return to you

Carol

Blog Award

I dont normally get into the whole passing around of awards or meme's on my blog - but since Blondie so sweetly listed me for the above award and since it is my first I thought I would post it.

So thank you very much for enjoying my random blog!!

P.s. I've added the whole following thing if anyone is keen :)

Now for some photos...

Winton House - For some history on this place (amazing stuff) then click here
The fact that the build was start in the 1000 AD was just amazing !


Just to show you the size of the estate - the farmhouse accommodation is the little cluster or trees in the far fields on the other side of the thick line of trees.


The actual firework at the wedding were just UNREAL


The first dance


C & my four poster bed


our HUGE room - please note the detailed plaster ceiling work that was done 30 years before Jan van Riebeeck landed at the Cape !!! ie 1620 - that is just crazy to me.

The fireplace and rest of the room

The Reception

After the wedding ceremony we headed back to Winton house. I'll have to write more about the house later as it was SO beautiful ! And the history of the place - it always amazes me and makes me realise that South Africa as a country is so very young!



Of course the first thing after the ceremony was the photographs. This was being done by The Housemate as his gift to them. I'm still convinced that it was the most work in one go he has done in years! He normally only has to work for a few hours at a time. While this was going on the wedding guests got to start on the bubbly and canapes (cept I wouldn't call masses of thinly sliced veg and dips canapes)



I got to flit around the room doing my social butterfly trick, introducing people that didnt know each other (while added interesting facts to start conversation) And C ran around trying to gather different groups of people at the right times for the photos outside. How he did this I'll never know. I do remember him coming around going "have you seen someone that looks like he would be an uncle Alexander"



I was trying my darnedest to not drink my bubbly too fast so that I didn't get plastered before dinner but the damn waiter kept sneakily filling my glass up ! I was seriously suffering due to the lack of food ! By this stage (6pm ish) I had only had that 1 slice of toast at 9am !!! We just didn't have time to stop for food (or anywhere to get it) the whole day. The housemate was even trying to provide mints to sustain us on the way back from the church.



After the photos they were supposed to do the whole cake cutting things...but thanks to some quick thinking on the grooms part he organised that we headed straight out to the marquee for dinner ! :)



The marquee was beautiful and was absolutely movie perfect. All white drapes and gold chairs etc. I knew I was going to be an odd one to seat since C was sitting up at the main table but I must say that I didn't expect to be sitting at the "intellectual" table. I could have guess though since the one girl seems to have become quite attached to me and I heard later that she had mentioned he like of me to the groom before the wedding. So basically I was the ONLY person at the whole table that didnt have Dr in front of her name!! OMG. And then the other strange thing was that I was seated inbetween the girl and her bf. I'm not sure if that was how it was planned or if they had changed it themselves before getting to the table. There were def so awkward moments...like this one...



Dr Sporty Physics (to her bf across me): Midnite Gem knows that I perve over her bf in a suit.



Her bf: *glares at Midnite Gem*



OMG - talk about uncomfortable...And why glare at me ??? It not really my fault that I have a hot bf that she seems to need to state this fact to the table.



Well I did manage to survive the dinner. The food was great (cept my stomach was now complaining from TOO much food instead of the TOO little before) I just have to say that there was one particular chick at my table that was just insufferable - what a cow. I just cant even explain it.

The rest of the reception consisted of the first dance (to Smashing pumpkins, tonight tonight), lots of dancing, cake cutting, fireworks (seriously impressive ...cost!), cake eating and more food, then even more dancing with a bit of driving people back and forwards again. Also there was a random moment of finding a lost wedding ring that had fallen off a guest finger as she had recently lost alot of weight and so both her wedding ring and engagement ring came flying off while dancing and only once the light were one and everyone was leaving did she realise they were gone. I was just sitting there thinking in my head ..."oh no please dont tell me the hysterics are going to start now" while my eyes were scanning the floor from my seat for anything really ...there it was all the way on the other side of the room to where everyone was looking. I casually walked over, pick it up and returned it and then the hysterical thanks started - sometime you just cant win.

So we packed everyone off into taxi's and send the bride and groom off to bed. Finally there was only one guest left who was waiting for her lost bf to come fetch her who had also had a flat tire on the way and was now lost. After much trying to get broken messages through due the the horrid mobile reception. Just after 2 am he arrive and C and I could wave them off and head up to bed as we were the last up other then the wedding co-ordinator.

We absolutely collapsed onto the beautiful four poster bed in the BEAUTIFUL original main room of the house. As we melted into the gorgeous fluffly duvet and matress and curled up, C turned to me and said: "I was so going to ravaged you tonight ...but frankly my gorgeous I'm just too exhausted." LOL and so was I! So we just wrap ourselves up in each other put our head on the extremely soft pillows and were both instanly fast sleep.

Morning came way too quickly and had us up and packed and down for breakfast at 10. Breakfast was amazing - talk about have absolutly everything laid out for you. So we ate ourselves stupid. Then said all our goodbyes, picked up the groom cousin and the maid of honour and dropped them off in Endinburgh and then head off to glasgow for the afternoon and onto Fort William to stay the next night.

More to come from the travels in Scotland....

NEW LOOK

PLEASE BEAR WITH ME WHILE I PLAY AROUND WITH THE LOOK AND FEEL OF MY BLOG :)

Oh and btw ...have a new blog for my 101 things in 1001 days... http://gems101.blogspot.com/

Ok it is official I can be seriously obsessive!!! This is going to be a work in progress as now i'm playing around with the actual code here - will be awhile and the blog is going to look crap for awhile and all my widgets are fucked up....oh well it is going to look great when i'm done :)

The Church

*Ok, I strangely feel that I need to quickly write a little disclaimer note here. I have to say that I absolutely LOVED going to the wedding. I was beautiful amazing day. And such a wonderfully happy day as well. Seeing Dr&Mr Intellectual all loved up and passionate in their love for one another was so wonderful. I also loved the meeting of new people, the socialising and the great energy of running around doing things. SO if there are any moany or negative sounding bits to my blog about the wedding it is not meant in offense to the day - it is just my silly little opinion and nothing ultimately detracted from a wonderful experience for me. So if any comes upon this rambling please just take it for what it is - ramblings and nothing seriously or meaningful*

SO...

off to the church ...
What an interesting church to say the least! I reckon it is one of those not sure if it should be classified as a cathedral or church - but i think it is pretty close to former then the latter. It happened to have the longest aisle in Scotland - how is that for daunting to walk down !!! Luckily they had arranged it that the alter was half way up the aisle and the wedding register signing was all the way at the end of the aisle. A mass of the guests (mostly the Edinburgh friends) had gather outside the church once we all arrived from the house. The family members mostly headed in but the rest of use all said our hellos etc (well mostly all the girl who knew each other from the hen night) Finally we all headed into the church. I had ABSOLUTELY no idea where to sit myself ! It was really strange. I know that most weddings all have a bride and groom side to the church but it was decided that the groom didn't have enough people to fill his side so that rule was scrapped.

There were some early people sitting pretty far towards the back and the people I came with from the house were all going up front. I wasn't keen to sit too far back as I wont be able to see and stuff. I did wondered where and what the hell the ushers were supposed to be doing?? No one seemed to know where they were going. So I landed up 3 rows from the front. I did notice that the first 2 rows had name tags on them - which i think was great for the family - but tell me if I'm wrong but the fact that the usher and his wife had name tags on their seats when some of the relatives didn't??? I found this extremely weird. I started to think that yes there is another example of how you get treated differently if you are someones wife over just being someones partner. C did mention to me days later that he had found more name tags in a box that didn't get set out. anyways moving on.

The Church has the most amazing history which C told me more about afterwards from the info that the minister was telling him. Things like it was burnt down by one of the King Henry's and John Knox was part of the ministry there (he was born in the town) and had over seen major parts of the repair and rebuilding. More info here. Random thing to point out but it seems that churches in Scotland are called Kirk, I mean how close is that to the Afrikaans word for church, Kerk! It is also pronounced the same.

I haven't been to a wedding in a church for pretty much exactly 10 years (In 1998 I came to England for my brothers wedding in a little LITTLE village in Gloustershire where I was bridesmaid in the most horrid dress that was too big!) I must say that Dr & Mr I's wedding was nice and short and not TOO churchy well not compared to the hour & a half service that my brother had. It did feel very surreal to me for some reason. I have to say I love their contemporary reading from "for whom the bells toll" (I cant find the actual reading but it was beautiful)

They also did have the obligatory string quartet and this is funny cause if you ask my mom we have been joking about how I would never have one at my own wedding. So I had to have a little chuckle to myself. I did realise sitting there in the church and watching the wedding that even though I love the surrounding and the architecture of a church I could not actually have a church wedding myself - def not at this stage of my life. This is also funny due to the fact that I think I have a bit of a fear regarding getting married. C loves to poke fun at me about it. There are so many reasons that I fear it. One of them is that I do think that the way people hype their weddings up is ridiculous. and that the amount of money spent on weddings is crazy. I think it is just too over the top and I just don't think that is very ME. (Again this is all just my opinion) This wedding did spark plenty of conversations about what each person would like for their wedding. And I of course got very wrapped up in it all as well. It is great fun coming up with things one would like to do. I do think that I would like a wedding as such if I get married but I know that it wouldn't be your traditional wedding or over the top. My other issues around marriage is alot to do with probably the "forever" part. Maybe it has to do with being trapped or loosing ones Independence even more. BUT as much as that all sits in my head I do think that it is great to be able to make that kind of public statement of status in people lives. There are still different attitudes that people have towards a couple that is married and one that is simply life partners even if they have been together twice as long and may even have kids. For this reason alone I fully understand people fighting for legal gay marriages!!

Ok I've def been side tracked here - my mind and fingers sometime run away with me.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful and watching them up there was great - Dr I looked absolutely STUNNING in her wedding gown and Mr I looked seriously smart in his get up. And of course I have to say that C looked so amazing in the best man get up (of course the same as the groom) He does look so amazing in a suit normally but now the whole waistcoat and cravat thing added he look super hot (ok i'm biased) LOL. It was very weird watching him from afar up at the alter.

After a VERY happy Dr & Mr I walked down the aisle out of the church out in to the thankful NOT raining day we all did the photos and congrats and socialising bit until the bundled of into the gorgeous luxury cars and us into the bus and back to the house for the reception.

To be continued....

Slack...

So yeah - am def being slack at my blogging again ...but in my defense I was still pretending i was on holiday at the end of last week and I was waiting for the pictures from our travels around scotland... honestly I'm still waiting for those. The housemate, known as the Ginger Ninja from now on, did show us the pics he had taken of C and I at the wedding but I've not gotten them from his computer to mine yet!

Well i'll still just write some random stuff about the wedding and travel and stuff and we'll see how far I get with the rest of the day before I bugger off home.

The friday of the last post was just insane...rushing to get work done, having my review lunch thing, rushing off to the airport, check-in, being delayed and not knowing why, getting into Edinburgh late, fighting with car hire place re after hours charge due to being delayed...lets just say that by the time we actually made it to the farmhouse accommodation on the estate where the wedding was, I was absolutely FINISHED. But we did do some socialising with the people that were still up at midnight.

At about 00:45 the groom, Mr intellectual, came crashing into the kitchen holding up his jeans in one hand and the phone held to his ear in the other trying to talk to a taxi driver that didnt sound like he was speaking english. It turned out that the last of the relatives that were arriving to stay at the other accommodation on the estate were in a taxi who was lost on the estate and had no idea where he was or where he was going. C and Mr I had to then jump into our rental car (we were like one of the other people there with a car) and go find the taxi and get them to the right place.

I heard afterwards that once they got them to the cottage Mr I started to walk them to the door then suddenly realised that his bride to be was in there as well and he literally went screaming back to the car - least he get into trouble for seeing the bride the night before the wedding.

I obviously didnt get to sleep until C was finally back and cuddled up in bed with me around 01:30 probably closer to 2am !!

The saturday of the wedding started off chilled enough with us strolling downstairs at 9am to make toast and sociallise a little more with the other that werent up late the night before. Then after chilling around for a bit we started figuring out what needed to be done...oh fuck was it alot. Firstly we had to start moving things over to the main house as us and the groom and others were staying there that night instead of the farmhouse where others would be arriving to stay later.

after a few runs we realised that time was running out ... C and Mr I had to be dressed and photos taken in 10 mins...we def ran late there and then we had to get C and Ginger Ninja over to the house to meet with the wedding co-ordinator. I quickly got ready and dressed etc (except for the heels) and we headed off to the main house...C got the list of his responsibilities which was very badly thought out and seemed to have him doing everything...mainly the problem was that if he was organising and lifting people around the estate to get everyone to the main house at 2:30 for the bus how could he be at the farmhouse with the groom getting the fancy car to the church at 2??? I mean really.

I there I was running around, hopping in and out of the car, fetching and carrying people to the main house. The annoying thing was there was no bloody cellphone reception on the whole estate. So when I needed to arrange times for the guest to be ready I had to drive to where they were knock on thier door, arrange a time and then go away and come back like 20 mins later. And these were people that I didnt know! Oh well it was all for C and good friends so I didnt really mind at all !!! Anything to make the day stress free for them. Besides it was better having things to do rather then sitting around not knowing what to do with myself alone.

After the bride being the obligatory late in coming down from upstairs we were able to head off to the church. But in all honestlywho would blame her as trying to get down 3 flights of a stone spiral staircase in a traditional wedding dress complete with hoop under skirt is pretty hard !!

To be continued...

Off to the land of Kilts and Whiskey and mountains

So we are finally off to the wedding - heading off to the airport in about 20 mins!! just cant wait to get out of work!! It is crazy here !!

Actually dont really have the time to sit here and blog - need to run off an dprint drawings finish things up - and i'm going to have to leave my desk in a state - i did try to tidy it last night...but today cluttered it up again.

Cant wait for our little tour of driving around scotland that we have planned for after the wedding. So i'll only be back at this desk next Thursday - YAY.

Laters!

p.s. to go with the theme of wedding..hows this for an alternative wedding cake (apparently the theme was gothic and it was Halloween)

Debenhams sux ASS!!!

OMG - what a horrid stressful annoying emotional day I had on Saturday.

As per my previous post I was somewhat worried about the fact that the dress from DEBENHAMS (nice big letters to help the search engines find this page where i'm going to say how much I hate DEBENHAMS) had not yet arrived. They did say that it would be Monday but since I had a bad feeling in my gut I called the customer services number on Saturday morning to find out what was the status and if they told it was with the couriers still then I would demand their number.

Oh boy did I have a bad feeling for a reason. I find out that they had tried to deliver it 3 times and now it was on its way back to the warehouse. After more questions I find out that they have been trying to deliver it to the building next door and not my work address. They then try to tell me that it must have been my mistyping !! By now I was getting more and more worked up and I realised what this was meaning and getting more and more angry at the fact that they couldnt even pick up the phone after getting it wrong the first time let alone the third time! As I have mentioned before it seems that as I get more angry and frustrasted I land up crying ...It is flippin annoying and I'm also sure it didnt help that I had my frikkin period as well. (I hate using that as an excuse tho! )

So now I start half shouting at them and hald blubbering too. How annoying. But I did have proof via 3 emails that I had typed my address in correctly and that their record had it correct. They had obviously given the couriers the wrong address.

After this was discuss I was like ...well you have to get that dress to me - I need now ! But oh dear, now they have no more stock of my size in the warehouse or online. Maybe there are some in the shops but they cant check those stocks at this call centre. I was SO pissed now. Your telling me that you cant just send me the dress I was supposed to get in the first place that is heading back to the warehouse. OH NO - that wont be put back into stock piles and is marked LOST!!! you've got to be freaking kidding me.

I still cant get my head how this company actually manages any customer services or manages to manage online orders as well. It seems that the online is run separately to the actual stores and the stores are also stocked and run separatly as well. I called the other call centre to check the stock in the stores (something that I wasnt expecting to actually work since the whole reason I ordered it online was cause they didnt have my size in the Oxford st store.) That call centre then has to individually check each store. How carzy is it not to have ONE it system that shows all the stock and where it is located. But no that isnt possible in their little world. One of the stores may have it BUT i had to call them direct to find out...again HOW THE HELL DOES THIS COMPANY SURVIVE??? I called but no cigar...they only had 2 left and it wasnt my size.

So after 4 calls I had to admit defeat and realise that I would not be getting the dress I wanted. I really didnt want this stress in my life - why did it have to be so much of a fight. I'm so glad that I didnt leave the calling until monday like they suggested on thursday. WHICH that is another bone of contension for me...WHY didnt the chick I spoke to on Thursday know that they were having trouble delivering it when the chick on sat had all the reported dates of failed delivery. AND WHY THE HELL COULDNT THEY HAVE PICKED UP THE PHONE AND INFORMED ME. I mean this is what we are all so contactable in this day and age.

So after C had calmed down the blubbering me he made plans that we would go off that day and find me a dress. He is SO amazing! After hours and hours of shopping for a dress he was still so supportive and positive while I felt like shit. I just have to say I have such a hard time with dresses as the one side of me is taller then the other due to my skew spine and this makes dresses sit funnily on my hips. OR there was some other problem with each and every one i tried on. Finally I had been ignoring the more expensive dress I liked...but with 1/2 until shops closed I finally tried it on and it was great. From the moment I zipped up the zip I knew I would be happy with this dress. Cept I'm still not happy with the price (double the original dress's price) - but I know that I would rather pay the price and be comfortable in the dress I have to wear at the wedding then unhappy with a cheaper dress.

Sadly all this drama ruined the plans that we had with Miss M, jailbait etc to go to the Mayors Thames festival...So that was also not helping the horrid mood I was in.

Strangely enough though I do think that the dress I have now I def more ME. It has black lace (makes me happy) and has a more edgy look. DEF more my style.

Here is a pic of it... P.s note that this is Tuesday afternoon that i'm writing about this and I'm still angry !! I'm now waiting for them to return the money for the dress and if they dont pretty soon I am going to start some serious shouting!!!

Handbag shopping

So its friday !! WHOO HOOO - damn I love it when the weekend comes around. I was supposed to have a very hectic day today like the rest of the week was but it looks like I can chill out a little bit which is great... cause i have the hugest migraine since last night and i'm finding it extremely difficult to even look at the screen without throbbing pain and nasuea hitting me. So sorry if this post is typed badly at looking at the keyboard only is def much better for the head !

My life has been taken over by shopping ! this seems to be my only mission these days. Firstly I seriously needed a new handbag ! my current one was fraying at the edges and i'm sure the handle was about to part ways with the body of the bag anyday now. But as usual I have to be one fussy girl.

I wanted to find the perfect handbag that i'll love and cherish and will hold everything i want it to hold without looking like I was going to fall over with such a big bag. I wanted real leather (takes more wear and tear) and wanted a black bag, with a pocket on the outside, no visible stitching etc. But every bag i looked at just wasnt right. They were either too big or they were too small. or were shiney or too many gold chains and accessories attached.

Anyways... i finally found the bag i liked even though it wasnt what I thought i would like. And the other problem was that it was cream !! NOt what i wanted. So I went and thought about it alot... even went past the bag again on another shopping trip for the wedding outfit. Until I was shopping for shoes for the wedding and went past it just one more...and there suddenly were black ones!!! yay ....And the best part... for 3 days only everything was on sale. So I got the bag and i found shoes and got 20 % off it all ...YAY !!!

Ok so I do love a bargin - it just makes it so much better for me ! So that is the bag above. Pretty Misha Barton label bag !

All the shopping has also been to do with the wedding that we are off to next Friday - I really didnt realise all the effort that goes into attending a freaking wedding. I've had to sort an outfit out...a dress, shoes, etc etc the whole formal wedding stuff. and the wedding present and transport etc. I'm so glad that I sorted the flights and train months ago!

I finally decided on a dress...I hope it is right! I've ordered it 10 days ago and it still hasnt arrived. The shop says that it is with the couiers and has been since the 4th - but it is most likely only to arrive monday or tuesday next week...i'm so freaked out by this!! what if it doesnt arrive and then i only have 2 day till we leave for the weddign and I happen to have work things on both nights...so there isnt a margin for fuck ups --- arg !!!!

anyways...here is the dress i chose and I've found shoes the perfect colour match (I didnt expect that!) now just need that pashimina to keep me warm and a bag to hold stuff since C wont be holding much since he is best man.

Highgate Cemetry

So this is kinda one of the catch up blogs that i've got to write. I'm not really up to writing loads as my brain is a little slow this week after the hecticness that was last week and the hangover that was yesterday !!

So I wanted to share some of the pictures I took in Highgate cemetry. After a very boring weekend on a Sunday afternoon C suggested that we finally head off for a tour of the cemetry. Have wanted to do this since stumbling apon it when walking home drunk with Mr & Dr Intelectual & C. Dr and I wanted to scale the fence and got exploring at like 11pm. But we decided against it...

anyway so here are the pics cause I cant seem to type and spell today so no more words.

Baking Saturday....

Yummy yummy cupcakes....

Competition

So i've been wanting to Blog all week... I have so many things to catch up on, like our lovely bank holiday weekend in the Lakes, the stunning resturant that we went to last week etc etc ... BUT sadly work has seriously been INSANE of late. I've had a huge workload of CAD drawings which are freak dead boring and take forever when they are as complez as the ones i've been doing lately. Its been the norm to see me still sitting at work at 7pm rushing to get stuff finished so that I can just go home and eat and crash for the night...

ANYWAYS...that isnt the point of this little post that I'm going to make before going back to the most horrid drawing of acoustic panels!!!

Last night Trendy and Mr Nice (her bf and our team leader) invited Miss quiet and I to join them at the cocktail party being held for the finalists of a photographic competiton that they were in. It was to be a little team 2 celebration for all the hard work we have been doing lately ...basically an excuse to drink free champagne!!!

It was a furniture company that held the competition where they sent you their chair and then you had to submit a photograph with the chair in it. You also had to write a blurb about your photograph as well.

Now while most of the entrants did VERY styalized photos (some even heavily photoshopped) where it was all about light and composisition etc. But not Trendy and Mr Nice...they are just too quirky to be normal... this is what they did....

Plus for the "blurb" they simply took the chocolate pudding packet it and photoshopped to make the recipe on the back all about drizzling it onto the chair. They were the only ones the didnt use words!

Much joking around by them and by us about winning and what the acceptance speech should be (none of the suggestions where suitable for the people there's ears) but it was all so sacrcastic when how could they win with such a silly pic compared the serious photographic images it was up against.

AS they were doing the presention of the winner speech the guy was explaining the criteria that they judged on. They said that they expected to just judge photographs on the classic things like composition and light and shadow etc but they landed up judging them more on the emotive quality and the relationship with the chair ...etc etc etc. It was at that point that Miss Quiet and I turned to each other and both said "they've won it" .... 2 minutes later and the announcment...

THEY WON!!!

How funny! when it was all such a joke...just a laugh and a bit of fun. They certainly didnt believe it at all and Trendy just stood there and laughed while Mr Nice gave a lovely drunken speech laden with seemingly nice comments...but we all knew it was so not meant like that. But luckily he has the most dead pan face that you wouldnt be able to tell at all if he was serious or not.

So they now have won a all expenses paid trip to Paris...now lets hope that our company will let them have more time off together (so far they are only allowed to take 5 days leave at the same time - which is in a few weeks ARG) This also probably means more work for Miss Quiet and I.

I'm so happy for them and they def deserve this credit for thier creative craziness! congrats!