I've been busy

Saturday: paralympics
Sunday: not so much
Monday: aqua aerobics
Tuesday: the Dark Knight Rises (just as good second time around)
Wednesday: opening my xmas shopping

I'm a bit worn out, mostly from the late night at the cinema last night.  I'm pleased I went to aqua aerobics, even if I did get a little lost on the way, and am only mildly concerned about my ongoing but very dull leg injury.  I've enjoyed being busier than usual but I can't decide if I want it to continue.  I'll have to see how Bokwa is tomorrow before I make up my mind.

I've only taken one week and a couple of half days of holiday this year  and I don't know how I feel about that either.  I'm planning a night away at a spa next month but really should take a week off in each of October, November and December.  Can't see that flying though.

So now I'm tidying up

After the last post and then telling my sister in law an easy solution to her problem of not having enough space would be to tidy up the spare room (which, incidentally, looks as chaotic as my bedroom but I actually live in mine) I realised I should take my own advice and tidy the hell up. This does not come naturally to me but whilst I am generally very messy, I have noticed that I've been keeping my bathroom tidy since allocating a home for all items - a place for everything, and everything in its place.  The bedroom is still a step too far that might tip me into madness, but I have guests visiting next week so I focussed on the living room.  Three bin bags, a trip to the charity shop, some dusting and sneezing later, and my bookshelf has been nearly emptied and nearly refilled. At this rate, I'll have this flat under control just at the point when I'm ready to move out.

Literary heroines

I've been musing about the books I read as a child. It's my neice's 8th birthday soon and she loves reading but seems to be stuck on the drivel that is the rainbow fairy series. OK, I haven't read any of the rainbow series but her mum is sick of it. The only time she was excited about it was when we saw a girl on the tube in Japan reading Japanese rainbow fairy drivel. Whilst I'm keen to encourage my neice to read, I'd like her to branch out so, on the recommendation of some ravelers, bought Earwig and the Witch.

I didn't realise it would be hardback, and it's such a lovely presentation that I couldn't resist reading it myself.  The writing is big and there are wonderful illustrations and it's about a young girl who can make people do everything she wants to do. It's a great book but I hope it doesn't give my neice too many naught ideas.

If Earwig and the Witch is pitched too young, then the next book I ordered may be pitched a little high but I hope she enjoys a more challenging read.

I also bought The Name of This Book is Secret, which has an 11 year old girl as its heroine.  She's interesting, smart, tough, brave, kind, makes mistakes and learns to say sorry and how to lie to her mother.  When she's older, I'll introduce her to The Hunger Games and later The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, although it's hard to imagine that point in the future when those books will be suitable.  I'm sure it will come round far too quickly.

I'm not sure how many role models I read when I was young and I know there were dreadful ones in the films I watched.  Save me prince this and rescue me prince that. Suprisingly, Enid Blyton may have created the best characters, from the Five Find Outers series to the Adventure series to the almost identikit Secret Seven mysteries.  The Naughtiest Girl at School was probably the most interesting.  I remember wading through all the Willard Price books at the local library and by the end being rather disappointed there were no female characters.  I read Fellowship of the Ring when I was 9 and I think it was the first book I'd read where a main character died.  I remember so vividly the image of Boromir with arrows in his chest, while sitting in Mrs Adams's classroom.  There weren't really any girls in that, either, although a couple of Elves dropped by briefly.


As an adult, there are many more books where the woman is in the driving seat, but they're often uninspiring too. I did read a whole book this weekend with one of my favourite heroines, Deaadlocked.  Sure, it's about vampires, werewolves and southern fried food, but when you get past the supernatural side of it, Sookie is a strong woman.  She goes through a lot of crazy troubles and is often alone in her world, but still she gets out of bed every day and pastes a smile on her face. She doesn't let people push her around, earns a living, occasionally shots people but only ever in self-defence, and at least once in my life, I've found a way to keep going by asking myself What Would Sookie Stackhouse Do?

Very much over the olympics

I overdid the olympics last week, tried to watch everything at once, surfeited, and became so sick of it I didn't even watch Lochte race. I'm even over Lochte. I tuned in only a little to keep track of Jess Ennis, but mostly read a book*. Remember, Jenny is a mindworm. I really want to finish my Echo Flower Shawl but each rows takes forever and regardless of how little I'm now watching the olympics, I've less than a week to finish my socks.

I went to Balham yesterday to collect some old belonging that had been in storage care of a very good friend for several years.  There were old photos, paints, and books in there, even older photos and a few things that didn't belong to me.  So a box went in the bin, a box went to the charity shop and a suitcase came back home full when it had left empty.  I have to post a few things to the person they belong to or I could bin them.  I'm 80% devided on what I'll do.


*The woman Who Died A Lot, Jasper FForde

What to write

I feel a bit overwhelmed about all the things I could blog about.  I've been to ballet and Japanese this week, I went to London yesterday and today I've been for a run already.  Running in the morning is lovely but leaves me feeling worn out in a very relaxed way for the rest of the day.  I'm excited about the things I bought in London yesterday and want to show them off but I also want to spend the day writing up a kntting pattern and knitting the sample.  And the sun has just come out!

Things are very hectic

I had my hair cut today which was very relaxing and lovely.  I didn't do my washing or practice packing or any Japanese or any knitting.  I did hoover before work and get things done at work.  I didn't watch much tv or clear out my hard drive for while I'm away.  I did have a bacon roll.

I went to a wedding

and had a wonderful time.  I didn't take many photos but I did film some of the ceremony. I'm hoping some photos of me looking pretty will appear on facebook soon enough.

The clocks have gone back now and everywhere seems dark and gloomy. I'm looking forward to one week of work and then flying off to Japan.  I made a stupid mistake at work last week and felt like a cotton headed ninnymuggins for most of the weekend. Is there a point where you get to stop doing stupid things at work and feel like a real professional for a while? I don't know but I know I won't make that mistake again, I'll just make other ones.
  

Totally distracted

I've been totally distracted by Up For Hire Live.  I tuned in as I read that Lush will feature tomorrow.  It's fascinating me at the moment.  There are four young people, two of which are graduates.  They all want work and through this week will be shown progressing from minimum wage menial jobs through to being the CEO.  I feel real sympathy for Kirstie who feels cheated that she has put herself through university and now has no prospects.  She's worked menial jobs and is now frustrated and depressed.  Her first task was to be a clown at an amusement park.  I think that's a very difficult job unless you're naturally bubbly and relaxed around people.  She came across as feeling she had some kind of entitlement to a better job and let's be frank, that's what the govenment claims.  Two entrepeneurs in the audience dug into her and said they wouldn't employ anyone who wasn't willing to work in the warehouse. Well, I'm very fortunate as I'm not willing to work in the warehouse.  I was very lucky when I left university as it didn't take me long to get an entry level job in my chosen field.  I've had different jobs but there are some I'd have to think twice about whether I could go back to them if I ended up out of work.  Poor Kirstie is onto her second film clip and is now being shown to not be a team player.  I often claim to not be a team player.  These four young people are really having a hard time of it but at least some of them accept that these different experiences can teach them something.  Ooh, now Sasha is having an amazing strop as she was criticized.  I remember having a very high opinion of myself and finding criticism really hard to take.  Fortunately, I didn't get criticised often, haha! But I wouldn't shout and stomp away.  Russell Kane is talking plenty of sense, as is Stacey Solomon.  This is a great show. There definitely seems to be a theme of the young people feeling there is something unfair out there.  Perhaps this is the real problem, that they haven't had the chance to learn from a work environment and grow up beyond a kevin and perry attitude.

Watch out, Brighton!

I'm going away for the weekend for the Hen Do.  This will include drinking, cheerleading, comedy and the seaside!

Strip one is done

I finished square four which is the end of the first strip.  There are going to be three strips so I'm nearly a third of the way through, as there will be finishing and an edging to add.  The strip is far bigger than I expected so it's going to be a decent sized blanket for snuggling under in front of the tv.

I won't say I'm sick of the blanket as I'm not, it's still interesting and relaxing to knit, but I'm tired of the time pressure involved and not having a finished item any time soon.  I know I finished some socks recently but the stash flash has really made me itch to start (and finish) something else.  Perhaps I can sneak out some baby socks as they only take a few hours.

For my dad's birthday, we went out to my parent's favourite restaurant. The food was yummy, and I ate far too much which is entirely appropriate, and even though the usual waiters weren't there, my dad was given a special carved swan and frozen dessert display for his birthday meal.

Very hot

As soon as I finished those trainer socks, we've had a mini heatwave.  Today I finished work at lunchtime after a gruelling day sitting at someone else's desk while we waited for our computers to be fixed.  The walk home to eat was exhausting.  Only mad dogs and englishmen after all.  I've been watching films and knitting on the blanket.  I though I might finish square four but each square is enormous.  I'm on row 80 something so only another 60 to go.  Knitting on a blanket is hot work so I've been warming up until it's unbearable then cooling down in front of my fan that sounds like an aeroplane taking off. when that's unbearable, I turn it off, am briefly deafened by the tv, turn that down, and start the process over.  

TV: smallville, burn notice, the killing

Film: it could happen to you

Not running

Today was really hot, just walking home from work nearly finished me off.  I've spent the evening watching Harry Potter 2 - these films are really long! I've also been back at work on the love hearts.  Finishing the yellow socks at the weekend definitely cheered me up.  I've always preferred smaller, quicker projects as I like a finished object so the blanket is a challenge that needs to be broken up into smaller chunks.  I'm well into the fourth square now. I think in a few squares time I'll try to finish off another little project.  I don't have anything as near completion as the yellow socks so perhaps I'll make some baby socks for PWW.

My weekend

I have had a busy weekend. I sneaked out for a run on Saturday morning. There was definitely some soreness so I just ran for a little and mostly walked. It was lovely and sunny and good walking weather. In the aftrenoon I saw my uncle and aunt briefly and then went to London. I met up with the mother of my nearly-goddaughter and gave her the stripey cardigan. We ate mexican food, and I was very surprised to find raw tuna was a mexican dish. It was served on a tostado with spicy sauce and onions. I found it all a bit confusing (raw fish but it's not Japanese?!?!) but that could also have been due to the passion fruit cocktail I'd had.

Afterwards, I had 2 scoops of Ben and Jerrys' and laughed LOTS at Bridesmaids. This is a very funny film! And also sweet and moving and poignant and very funny. My friend and her friend had both seen it before and decided it merited a second viewing and I would be happy to see it again too.  I worked on the yellow socks on the train, which I had to run for in non-running shoes so that probably wasn't a good idea but it was the last train and I didn't want to miss it.

Today, I went to my nearly-sister-in-law's hen day where we made bracelets and played games and had lots of fun.  I was just a bit too tired to fully enjoy it so I didn't make matching earrings. I am looking forward to eating my gingerbreadbride that I decorated. I wore a new dress, too.

I'm really tired but it's not even 7pm so I'm going to watch a film and eat and knit. Lovely.

TWO THIRDS

I managed two thirds of the purple Lush lips square this weekend, which is more than I truly thought I'd get done. I had to write out the chart yesterday morning, before doing some more ballet conditioning then realising I only had half an hour to shower, get dressed, pack, make lunch and leave to catch my train. It was all fine and I had a very pleasant journey up to Maidenhead to see the Wheelers including baby PWW and the final Harry Potter film. And eat lots of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

In the evening we ate home made pizza and watched all of the Family Guy Star Wars spoofs. Baby PWW is lovely and we enjoyed some cuddles and dancing this morning and then it was time for me to trek back home, knitting all the way, and whizz round the supermarket and clean the house and then be distracted by GnomeTown. A perfect weekend, really :)

Gaudy Weekend

I spent the weekend in Oxford at a college Gaudy which, roughly translated, is Latin for group of people who should know better recapturing their university days by eating mousse and getting drunk on port. I made a big deal of the weekend and even had my hair done specially before hand but didn't make sure I got a good photo of me.  Here's one from the end of the evening which isn't very flattering.

I took lots of photos of my old college and couple in Oxford town centre. I then went to see my friends and their new baby and forgot to take any photos. I'll see them again in a few weeks so it's all ok. Oof, I've got quite a tiredness hangover. I was well looked after today by some more friends, who made sure I was fed and watered and taken to the train station so I could get home and feed and water myself some more. Now I'm pretty tired and kicking myself about the photos but had plenty o' fun. Back to work tomorrow - not looking forward to the deadline I have this week but at least it's only a week and I can't string it out any longer than I already have.  No more tennis to distract me from things I should do either which is good.  Only saw the last two points and didn't mind the result.  Would have been happy if Nadal won again but it was good for Djoko to win.

Something to think about:
What is my plan for the next little while?

718 out of 730 can't be bad

My yarn from the yarn yard hasn't arrived yet and I'm a bit sad about that even though I have a full bag of wool (as seen yesterday) to play with.  It's not rational, I realise, as even after I've finished with the bag of wool, I've got all sorts of wips I'd like to do all sorts to. I like to finish things, after all, it's like getting free clothes, and that cuts down on the need to wash and iron.  It seems I like to start things even more than I like free clothes though. And I like to buy things even more than I like to start things.  This is evident in all the dvds and computer games I have, still in their plastic wrapping, with another box of treats arrived from Amazon today. Some of the dvds are from myself from xmas 2009, films I'd already seen but were on special offer and I felt I ought to have them. I think I felt a need to boost the number of presents I would get for xmas, as I was feeling very divorced that year.  I'm not sure why I need this buffer of possessions, especially as I would have to work really hard to watch or play or knit them all.  I also have a tv recorder which is nearly full of films, boxes of yarn.  I haven't bought much yarn since the unicorn club in 2009. Sometimes I get yarn stress - I worry that I've invested so much in all that yarn that wouldn't it be awful if it caught moths, or sometimes I feel guilty for having it and not using it.  Yes, it's an investment for when the apocalypse comes or the next cold snap. There are evenings when I like to look at the skeins of sock yarn before I go to bed, like saying good night to the Walton family.



Somewhere around last summer, I decided not to buy anything if I already had it. No new shampoo until I used up the old one, no hoarding bubble bath, no music until I'd really listened to the stuff I already had.  It was prompted after a holiday in July, where the enormous credit card bills kept coming.  The holiday itself was a huge treat so I suppose I partly didn't fell I needed anymore treats.  I wrote about it here and seemed to have been enjoying myself immensely.  I'm not sure where I forgot about it - certainly I've kept some of the habits but have really fallen off the wagon in the last week or so.  And I realise, like before, it's very easy for me to stop shopping, as I have previously bought everything I could possibly need and then some...

...although I been eyeing up Kindles again.

Race Day!

I did it and I am so pleased! 

It was a long day and I'm quite sore this morning so I'm planning on spending most of the day in bed or in my pyjamas. I don't know how this is going to impact my trip to the supermarket but I think I will need to buy food today.

Here's the very long and selfindulgent full story:

I got up in time to have a normal breakfast and a bath.  I packed all my bags with spare clothes, my parking permit, my wallet, my ipod, my laptop, my knitting, my gameboy, a notebook, a cuddly toy and a set of silk ties.  Ok, not the last two but it was an epic amount of organising as I went straight to my sister's after the race as I was due to babysit in the evening.  I wanted lots of things to do and to be able to tell everyone straight away of my triumph/misery. I was nervous and excited and not as worried as I thought I might be.  I realised there were no real consequences to this.  I had felt a little like I was going to sit an exam I wasn't ready for but there was nothing like the sick feeling before my accountancy finals.  That's because it didn't matter how well it went in the race to anyone but me.  If I liked it, I could do another one, and if I didn't I could just laugh about it later.  I felt more relaxed when I realised that.

I was pretty pleased with myself that I'd left enough time to go to the cash machine and didn't have to worry about being stuck behind really slow drivers on the A21.  I became a little less smug when I couldn't see any directions to the venue but it was just a little further than I'd expected. I did begin to wish I'd left earlier though as I wandered around getting more and more worked up as I couldn't find the registration tent.  I went to the start line to ask directions then walked back to pretty much where I had parked and a bit further in that direction was the event village.  Um, that was me being quite dumb but I didn't have time to berate myself further as I was too busy having a panic at how frightening the finish line looked.  There were people there and they would see me and it was at the top of a hill and there were lots of people looking half dead staggering across it.  These people were in the much earlier starting waves and I expect they ran the whole way.  I very nearly turned round and went home but I've been having so many conversations with Dan-san about not turning up to Japanese lessons you've paid for that I figured I couldn't chicken out now and waste all the entrance fee.  Dammit, I wanted my goody bag and you only got that when you finished.

I signed in.  I deposited my spare clothes.  I made a quick toilet stop (very pleased I did) and toddled off to the start line. I knew where that was already (ha!) and it counted as a warm up as I was hurrying and it was 5 minutes away. When I saw the people in my starting group, I felt some relief.  Most of them looked a bit like me.  None of them looked like elite runners (no offense), they were all wearing similar clothes to me, had similar looks of expectancy and nerves.  It was fine.  I guess, given the wave we were in (70 minutes plus) we were all planning on taking in the scenery and getting lots of race time for our money. The fastest waves had finished long before we started and the official medal ceremony would take place when we were somewhere around 3 km.

The organiser chatted to us for a few minutes before we started, telling us there was water at 4km and 7km, a toilet at 5km and the first km was uphill.  That was a perfect reason to start off walking.  I was right at the back and overhead the lady walking just in front of me tell a marshall she was planning to walk the whole thing as she had a knee injury. Oh, you cannot tell how relieved I felt when I heard that as even though I'd been advised plenty of people would walk some of it, I still wasn't convinced.  I chatted to her for a while, admitted this was my first race and she was really kind. She told me all about how an evil dog had tripped her and the evil owner wasn't remotely sorry.  If it wasn't for her, I'm not sure I'd have made it up the hill in the first kilometre but I managed to keep pace as she powered up. She then said she didn't mind at all if I wanted to run and as it was flat and I really like running, off I went.  I passed a couple and an individual and then I thought I should pace myself a bit.  I didn't want to make the mistake of starting really fast and then struggling to finish. In reality that's probably what I did do but I think it was unavoidable as I hadn't done anything like that distance before.  The trail went through really beautiful woodland, with bluebells along the edge of the track.  The weather was perfect - not raining but enough cloud cover to keep it cool and occasional bursts of sun. The first water station at 4km arrived surprisingly quickly.  I think I was there in about 30 minutes so I thought wow, I might manage my secret hope of 1hr 15min but this thought passed quickly because really, what's 5 minutes or 10 minutes here or there in real life? I wanted to focus on enjoying it and getting round in less than 1hr 30 minutes as I figured I could probably walk it that quickly. Actually, it was so hilly I think it would have taken much longer.

At 5km, the couple in front of me stopped for a toilet break and I'm not surprised they'd stopped as they drank a whole bottle of water each at 4km.  I took advantage of this and put on a short burst of speed.  I'd read that in races it's best to take every chance you can to get ahead.  I also made sure I ran past and thanked every marshall.  For the next few kilomotres, I was stuck behind another runner.  I couldn't get up enough speed to pass her convincingly and didn't want her to pass me a minute later so I just used her as a pace maker.  At 6km, I noticed the toes on my right foot were hurting, and at 7km, the ones on the left foot hurt too.  There was a super encouraging marshall at 7km who spurred me on to the next water break. By this time, I had already covered about double the distance I would do in even my longest training run.  My legs were feeling wibbly and I was walking much more than running.  At 8km, I noticed that when I tried to run, my legs didn't join in, so I had to accept that there was going to be a lot more walking, and the toilet couple were looming up behind me. Noone else had passed me and it wasn't like it mattered, so just after 9km, I pulled over and gave them a little cheer as they went past.  The final kilometre! I almost couldn't believe it.  My back ached, my legs and toes ached, I was sweaty and dusty and my lips were covered in gross mouth breathing goop.  So close to the finish, I kept on walking. Around 9.5km, there was a lovely tree lined path, then a sign saying only 250m left.  A hill in the way. More walking.  Then there was the finish line, and it was all me.  I ran along, heard the loud speaker announce my number and my name and there was clapping and I passed the finish line and threw my arms in the air and cheered.  I did it! I was so happy! I stumbled to the finish tent and was rewarded with my medal and goody bag and some water.  Then my pal with the bad knee from right at the beginning arrived, she'd sneaked in some running too, and the people who had clapped me turned out to be her friends from her running group.  I was really glad they'd waited for her although she was a bit embarrassed.

At this point I should have done some stretching but I was a bit monged out and elated. I remember signing up for a free massage and eating a burger and stumbling around a bit. My massage was great. Local university students studying sports science were donating their talents and it was much appreciated. I kept telling people how this was my first ever race and they all seemed surprised and impressed. The race I chose wasn't really for beginners (did I mention it was all uphill) but it was such a lovely venue.  I only ever run outside and prefer fields to road so it was perfect for me. I managed to get back to my car and call my mum to tell her I did it and got the goody bag.  I called my sister but it kept cutting out so then she called me back, sounding rather worried. I confirmed I was all good and had my medal and was on my way after I'd finished a banana.  She ran me a bath and baked me a cake and cooked me dinner and assured me she wouldn't be back late. I wasn't impressed when that turned into 1am and I couldn't work the internet and had left my knitting at my house but all was forgiven by the time I crawled into my own bed.

So that was it.  I am sore today but I can still walk and it has definitely encouraged me to keep running and keep entering trail races.  I didn't manage any knitting last night which was probably just as well as I was really tired and spaced out.  I probably could have slept in the afternoon and didn't really interact with my family much.  All I could do was play pokemon ranger so I did get a level 5 assist power up (meaningless to anyone apart except my sister but just know it takes plenty of repetitive play and determination). 

Thanks to everyone for the support and encouragement and thanks to my legs and feet, you get a nice rest today.

Cheered up

I was feeling very stressy and grumpy today but someone just said something nice, so that's ok.  I think I might just leave it at that and do some knitting.

Next project is an old one

After the success of finishing the Honey cardigan I felt spurred on to knit another cardigan.  I started looking around for a pattern but my sister reminded me I should finish something already in waiting.  I like this idea as it's like getting free clothes - I've already got everything I need and I'm actually further on than I expected. I've been pleasantly surprised by this project before. Periodically, I pull it out of its bag and knit a few rows.

This time I found that I'd actually finished the back and front and done half a sleeve.  I also found some scraps of other yarn - I don't know what they're doing in there.

This is Scrumptuious DK that I bought waaaaaay back when, around the same time my husband was thinking of walking out on me*, so perhaps some of my reluctance to finish it is that association. Naah! I think the real problem is, I didn't get gauge so I blithely thought I'd make my own calculations.  It's hard enough putting down a project and picking it up again, but it's even worse if you have to remember what nonsense numbers you were using.  I did make some reasonable notes though, another nice surprise, which is why I managed to finish both fronts and make them match.  I don't remember which notebook I wrote them in though or where that notebook might be.

*I wonder if that also encouraged me to buy so much.  It's certainly entertaining to look back at all those purchases and see that I have knitted myself three pairs of socks from it.  THREE PAIRS, PEOPLE! Out of a possible 9 pairs, a cardigan, a jumper and a shawl! That is not entirely surprising. I think one hank of sock yarn went to my sister as a present, one is on the needles at present, the lace yarn was started, the cardigan started (see above) and the rest is admired fairly regularly.

Last night's classes

Yesterday was super busy Thursday. I got to my Japanese class in good time and found that the cafe would be open on Wednesday (suiyoubi) and Thursday (mokuyoubi) evenings from now on.  My classmate bought me a cupcake (cuppukeiki ?) to celebrate. We continued practising sentences involving going someplace at sometime by somemeans, and then learnt to catch the train (densha).  I have to say, the new sentence construction has stumped me slightly as I feel like I'm saying Tokyo will arrive at 3pm rather than the train will arrive in Tokyo at 3pm. It's going to take some actual practise.

What time is the next train for Nagoya?
つぎ　の　なごや　ゆき　は　なんじ　です　か
tsugi no nagoya yuki wa nan ji desu ka?

At what time does it arrive?
なんじ　に　つきます　か
nan ji ni tsukimasu ka?

Ok, so only two sentences and a couple of phrases to learn really.

After the lesson, I was chatting with another classmate and something they said to me really resonated.  At first I thought I didn't understand what they were feeling, but I realised when I got home it was exactly how I feel about certain parts of my life. 

Dance class was good fun - quite a party atmosphere and great track, Wretch 32 unorthodox. This dance seems to have a particular move that aggravates my shin (whine whine whine about your leg, that's all you do) so I'll try gentle run tomorrow. After work today (worked late again, will be rich soon)  I enjoyed an evening of tv and knitting.  Friday night tv has really picked up now I know Doctor Who is repeated.  It means I can watch at the weekend, read all the discussions on ravelry all week, then watch again and see if I see anything new.