81 to go

I thought I'd keep you up to date with my timetabling ... as it currently consumes my time.
Out of a total of 1133, I have 81 left to place. 92.86% done - wa'hoo. It's a shame that the part that's done is the easier to do - it's this last lot that takes forever to do.

Really cool or Slightly freaky?!

In the spirit of fully utilising the toolds at my disposal, I thought I'd have a play on google earth which the school has.

I first checked my parents house, where I grew up - ah.

The square is over the house

Then where used to live in Castle Donnington (outside of Nottinham)

I circled my old house; the X is where I parked - in the pub car park across the road.

Then where I live now - Notice how clear the pictures of London are! You can see my back garden for crying out loud!!!

There is a rectangle around my part of the garden. The blue dot is my front door. The red X is where Bob was living for 3 weeks!

Then the school I work at now. I looked for my car - you can't see it. Bummer.

The red X is my office the blob is the front doors to the school

Clever cloggs

I have always admitted to being a poor speller. Thanks for pointing out one of my more clever mistakes J! :) It takes a good friend to provide humiliation

Apparently even Einstein was a poor speller.

Cat jail?

Bob seems to be settling back into life at the flat. She is desperate to go outside. How do you make an outside cat an indoor cat? It seems slightly cruel. I'm hoping after a bit of inprisonment, she'll remember where home is and not trollop around and find another new home. Saying that she might just feel free and go further next time. Oh the dilemma.

Timetabling

I am currently creating the timetable for next academic year and amending this year's timetable as we have 2 teachers going on maternity leave. As sad as it is to admit, I enjoy timetabling - to an extent I must add.

The 3 pictures are screen shots of an icon that keeps going while I'm timetabling - I thought I'd share with you some what I get to stare at all day :) Your welcome.

pjs and tv

What more could a gal want from a long weekend I ask. Exactly. Those of you who know me, know that I love pj days. I stayed in my pjs for 48 hours this weekend. Nice :)

The things we do

Somehow I ended up pulling an all-nighter last night! Why? A perfectly good and logical reason. Because I'm a responsible grown up and there was good tv on. Or because I drank too much caffeine and I couldn't sleep! Anyway, needless to say I am very tired today; a Sunday afternoon nap is sounding very good right about now.

This is from last Sunday when I was in Nottingham for the weekend. This is my very good friend Jon. For any men reading - this is the guy that all the women want and all the men want to be :) Seriously though, he's one of the good guys left in the world - he's got one lucky wife. But saying that - he's one lucky guy for being married to his wonderful wife!

confused!

or is it just sleep deprivation?

One of the things my father blessed me with (or at least I blame him for) is chronic insomnia. * My mother tells me I have blame issues - nothing's ever my fault ... well she got have of that statement right - I am always right :) hehe My father also gave me my wonderful height and fairly hairless legs - both good things, but today's all about the insomnia :)

So in my moment of being awake, now 3:40 in the morning, I'm confused. I don't want to tell you why for many reasons - no sympathy is required, nor is pouring my guts out or crying over a shoulder and I'm tired of talking about it .. to name a few of the reasons. I don't think I really want advice on my current situation either. I would love to know what the outcome will be and what decision I should make, but I don't and you aren't able to tell me either. "So what", I hear you asking, "is the purpose for this blog entry?" Good question. To which the only answer I can come up with is that I'm extremely confused, don't know what to do, what the right decision is, and wanted to share my dilemma.

I have also come to the conclusion that 3:30 AM blogging inducing more rambling than normal :)

it's all gone to the dogs!

Well you lot certainly didn't rise to the occasion - or maybe no one reads this site. Never mind. It just reiterates the love. **cough cough**

I ended up going out tonight. There was a group from work that went to see the dogs race. It wasn't the most fun in the world, but it was nice to be able to scream at the top of your lungs. I did win on the first race. I decided to bet on the one that looked the cutest. That mentality only one me one race - I lost the rest. But I only lost the money I won.

After the dogs a smaller group went into Wimbledon Village for a curry and a drink. I ended up being the only non-Irish person of the group of eight. Interesting night out :) Thanks to my new Irish friends for taking my mind off my woes.

Horrible, no good, very bad day!

So I'm having a pretty rubbish day - and that's putting it mildly. In fact I might be tempted to use some choice words if I didn't know my mum looked at this blog. So I need some cheering up. Your task is to cheer me up. Jokes, funny stories and antidotes all welcome. No putting my life into perspective though. I fully know it could be a lot worse and many people are worse off than myself. I still feel rubbish and I still need cheering up.

More pictures

My friend Andrea came to visit me in London. She and her friend (my new friend) Shannon came to England for around a month.

Left to right, Shannon, Andrea and Me

During their visit we went to see Wicked, the West End show about the wiches of Oz. So very good! Better still, Adam Garcia was playing the lead male role. Remember him from Coyote Ugly?
May 2007

Playing catch up ... with photos

As I've not had a good way of sharing my photos till now, I thought I'd share a few.

Friends/People I worked with a Serco. Clockwise from top left, Sam, Laura, mwah, Shirley, Gaj, James, Nick

This is from an all night support-a-thon we did to raise money for Sri Lanka

..in case there is any doubt, it was meant to be a cheesy photo

July 2006 Camp Shamrock
At Hare's Gap in the Mourne Mountains of Northern Ireland
I spend a couple of weeks each summer helping out at this summer camp

Claude and Hannah (and my messy flat)
This was taken just after Hannah moved in, feb 07

Hannah's my flatmate, Claude is a friend from work who introduced Hannah and I

My good friend Hayley, I also met her working at Serco
She moved to London a few months after I did

Mary from BTG (current work)

Rhi from Derby who I met in London
Small world eh :)

Adam - I met him at one of his gigs, and have stalked him ever since :) http://www.myspace.com/adamsmithuk

So many late nights

Tuesday night I decided it was a good idea to start watching a movie around midnight. In case you were in any doubt - this is not a good move. Needless to say Tuesday night I had little sleep.

Yesterday I met up with an old work colleague, and good friend. She's working in London for a few days. We went out for a very nice, but ever so filling, chinese meal in a very posh restaurant. I should have taken a picture of the inside. Surprisingly enough the food was reasonably priced. My friend is addicted to The Apprentice and wanted to get back to the flat to watch that. After The Appearance there was a double bill of Ugly Betty. I fully admit it's very sad to admit addiction, but none-the-less we stayed up watching it. It finished at midnight. I seriously need to sort out my sleep as a priority!

This pictures was just too funny not to share!

Maybe they're not all rubbish

Personality tests that is.

http://www.brainfall.com/

I am Hagrid. I'm an outcast with a heart of gold. Despite my own problems, I always find time to help those in need.

I am are Raphael. I have a sarcastic wit, but it can sometimes get me into trouble.
Boy would my mom agree about the sarcasm

... all is forgiven

Great news!!! Bob is home!!!! It turns out she had adopted a family across the road two houses down - the cheeky mare! Apparently she used to visit quite often and make herself at home in their garden and house aand one night she desided to stay. I guess she used to come back when she heard my voice and when I wasn't around she decided to find a new family. The mom of the family Bob had adopted seemed releaved Bob had a home (her son's got exzema and it had flared up since Bob showed up). The little boy was quite devestated, he had renamed her 'Treasure' as she showed up when he was having a bad day and she was such a treasure for him - how sweet is that! I of course told him he could visit anytime he wanted. I have also extended her name to 'Bob's a Treasure' so he could keep calling her Treasure.
Bob's a bit unsure of her old surroundings. I'm hoping she feels at home soon.

At first Bob was a bit unsure where she was. So much change

(she's under my flatmate's bed here)

out of hiding for some food!
food always does the trick :)

It didn't take her long to make herself at home ...
... in my bed.

Thank you for your prayers for Bob's safe return!

Bob appeal

I shall spend tonight putting posters up. Thought I'd share.
I didn't want to put my real name and number on poster -
too many weirdos out there :)

Thought for the day

WATER

#1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population.) #2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.

#3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.

#4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

#5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

#6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

#7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a ! printed page.

#8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?

COKE

#1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

#2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.

#3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.

#4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

#5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

#6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

#7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

#8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

#1. the active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.

#2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup! (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.

#3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years!

I realised a little over 2 months ago that I was addicted to coke. 'kicking' the habit caused me serious side effects for a good two weeks!

More exciting news, if daily life is exciting

So I'll get bored of updating this blog soon, but while it's still new and somewhat fun, I'll bore you with more :)

Last night I was at work until 8. Needless to say when I got home I was starving! I made some healthy stuff that tasted ...well it was eatable. I had a pretty uninteresting night really. After the food I watched some tele - not much on, so I took a bath, finished reading my current book, The Testament by John Grisham, and went to bed. I was quite tired, so not surprisingly I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned for a good 45 minutes before sleep found me .... only to be woken up a couple hours later with a coughing fit - can you swallow the wrong way when you're asleep? **ponders** My alarm - which I have set to a siren sound affect (those of you who have lived with me have to find humour in that!) went off for a half hour before I managed to drag myself out of bed. Now I'm at work. I guess I should do some work. Timetabling here I come, wahoo **yawn**

What's going on with me?

I'm glad you asked

Work - I'm currently building the school's timetable for next year - probably my biggest project during the year. My eyes are going cross. I got a new laptop and desktop computer. I was excited. This simply goes to confirming I am a geek.

Family - Good question. I'm happy to report my grandmother is at home, she went home around a month ago. She can walk a bit and fend for herself to a very limited point. I'm very happy that she's doing so well. I know it's got to be hard because she is still very dependant on other people, but I'm thrilled to bits that she's still around!
My parents are fine as far as I know.
My sister and her husband are fine as far as I know. Prayers are welcome for the start of their family.
My grandfather is just as ornery as ever, and I love him despite it :)

Home - In August I moved to London to take a job at a school. I used to work for a software company that supplied software to schools. I now work with that software in a school. That's the short version of what I do M-F.

Moving to London has turned out to be harder for me than moving to England in the first place. My thoughts on this oddness:
1 - when I came to England, it was only meant to be for 2 years - it wasn't permenant. By the time it became permenant, it already felt like home. Whereas moving to London felt like I threw away a lifetime of memories and junk that I had kept like a true pack rat :)
2- when I came to England I came with 5 other people I knew quite well. We were all in a similar situation - none of us knew anyone else. I came to London by myself and knew noone. londoners are really hard to get to know!
3 - when I went to Nottingham (that's where I originally moved to for those with an extremely bad memory) I was instantly part of a church and family. In Lodnon I have to find a new church and new family. They're far away and different to home :( (the home I refere to is Nottingham - sorry American family that I love :)

I rent an unfurnished 2 bedroom flat in south east london. It costs me £850 a month just for rent (that's roughly $1700 for you Americans reading). I bet some of you could remember when you could buy a whole house and 20 aches for that price - not in London! And can I just say that's one of the more modeltly priced places. Because of the expense, I have a flatmate. She's lovely. She also works in a school. But unlike me she gets all the school holidays - the little terd. So next week she'll be longing at home while I'm slaving at work.


Me - I'm single. I guess. Technically I'm not divorced yet. WHy you might ask. If I'm being honest, a lot of it has to do with the fact I have a chronic alment called lazziness. I also suffer with not being overly bothered. On top of that it costs money (that I don't have - did I tell you how much my rent alone is?!) And I have one of my ex-husband's (yes Ieven though we're not officially divorced I call him my ex husband - what else would I call him) loans in my name and we wnated to get that sorted first.
No I've not been dating recently. This is partly due to the lack of interest shown (sniff sniff) more to do with it being hard enough to meet a whole new circle of friends let alone think about finding someone to date! It's also because I hate the idea of having to 'date' again and because I think my family disapprove of me dating while I'm still techniacally still not divorced. Seperated for two years isn't enough. Speaking of which - I'll have been mariied for 6 years a month from today. How odd.

How can that be comfortable?

Bob had fun with the move -

she liked making forts out ofwhatever was piled up

I reckon she's got some 'dog' gene

Bob - Bob is my cat that has now gone walk abouts. She's been gone since the last weekend in April. I was away for the weekend. My flatmate let her out Friday evening and Bob never came back. Tissues out! I'm sad now. I want Bob to come back home. Irritating as it is, Bob's name tag had come off the week prior to her disappearence. So she's tagless.

Misc - The Pied Pipers from Harding Uni are in Nottingham at the moment. This past weekend I went up there to see them. There were a few Pipers there that came 2 years ago. It was good to see them. They always come with such energy and make a possitive impact to the church.

I've conformed

I have a blog :-/