The Here & Now.

Drive-by dictionarying

Words I passed in the dictionary today as I checked spellings of things (yes I get to use a real-life dictionary in my job, I think it's cool too):

geoduck
knifeman
lunate

Missing people curry craving

I have a short week ahead of me, again without Christopher, who is off in California for work. I am craving a curry like nobody's business. I have no idea why.

I am starving, trying to wean myself off the constant eating of Easter weekend.

Brownie

I've been slowly working on the Hourglass jumper in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. Why do I always pick a slightly random colour? I'm making it in a soft brown. When do I wear brown? Almost never. Ah well. We'll see. It is a nice colour of brown.

I have a nice afternoon of knitting and Poirot, with Gusdog on my lap, ahead of me. Christ, I've become 70 years old all of a sudden.

...and received its first musical training with the Florianer singer boy

I’m going to scream today, and I don’t know what my problem is.

I have a list of mostly interesting work to do, even cleaning up badly translated opera singers’ biographies is not bad for a Monday.

I’m struggling with my mum, who won’t listen to me and I feel guilty for living on an island thousands of miles away even though I would feel equally helpless and frustrated if I lived nearby. I am irritated that the spring coat I ordered online was held up for mysterious reasons and despite apologies and promises to keep an eye on it, it still is sitting somewhere with some random status listed when I check online. I am beyond sick of my winter coats, and feeling frumpy and fat.

I want to go eat the nice lunch I made (salmon fillet, brown rice, peas, leeks and spring greens with a bit of lemon juice, since you asked) and read my book, and then have a nice nap with the sun on my bed and a warm, soft Gusdog to curl up with.

That nice plan doesn’t include dealing with badly translated biographies, you’ll notice.

Being carded

I keep watching The Last Enemy, which never leaves me in a very settled mood on a Sunday night. Of course, now it's all becoming slightly closer to reality with the ID cards scheme going ahead, in some form. As a 'non-EEA foreign national' (which always makes me feel like spy), I get to go first!

Wait. That's not a prize is it?

I know I know, we're not the ones they're particularly worried about, but it feels weird to read Home Office reports where you're referred to as 'they'.

Daytime telly is not all that great when you have nothing else to do

Holy mother I've had the worst flu ever for the past week. I've never taken four days off sick from work in a row, but I truly had no choice, I could barely sit up until this afternoon. I thought my head was going to implode on Wednesday. Meeting Christopher for dinner tonight was the first time I've ventured outside for the duration.

If I have to watch one more car insurance commercial or listen to one more whiney couple being unreasonable on a property show I will go insane.

Non-transitional feelings

I really don't like the time in between seasons. This one is the worst.

I like opaque tights and cardigans and scarfs and toques. It makes me happy. I really don't like suddenly feeling like a frumpy old woman as soon as I guess the transitional weather wrong and it seems like everyone else in the world knew to wear breezy springy things.

My hair is doing strange things as well and it won't behave. In any way. I gave up trying to let it go curly, because it wouldn't commit. So I get it cut shorter to wear straight, and it just sticks out straight like the worst relaxed afro you've ever seen. I DON'T UNDERSTAND.

But, in a bid to be healthier, I've stopped taking the lift at work. And went to my first Alexander Technique session.

But, I am also feeling low, and have been for a few weeks, excepting brief flashes of silliness usually initiated by Gusdog. I'm not sure what my problem is, but I am well sick of it.

Timing is everything

I'm trying to plan out what to knit for two of my coworkers who are both pregnant, due in August. One is quite traditional, really, so she'll be easy. A little jumper and some booties. The other one isn't so much, I was thinking of the dragon hoodie, in dark greens.

Since neither mum-to-be is planning to find out the gender beforehand, I've got to go a bit neutral in the colour department. So green and yellow it is.

It seems early to be planning, but I know I've got a few big things, like planning our trip to Canada, moving house and everyday life to get in the way. So if I start now I may possibly, possibly, be finished in time.

Fade to Grey

You missed out on my bulleted list of moans yesterday because my computer decided to eat it.

I've been avoiding herds of school children all day as there have been 2000 of them at work for some sort of schools orchestra concert (very worthy, but selfishly it makes every outing from my building an exercise is avoiding 10-year-old girls giggling).

Slightly improperly obsessed with Ashes to Ashes. You can imagine what my current playlist is sounding like.

I'm feeling confused about the sunshine - it reminds me how much black I wear every day. Thank god I booked in a colour treatment next week - I saw a reflection of myself the other day in a shop window and my hair is looking frighteningly mousy. You can get away with it in the winter, wearing berets all the time and the dim light and all.

I'm sick of every single option in EAT. Bring on spring food refresh quicklike!

Ham and cheese, then maybe lemon sugar for afters

I'm eating White Rabbit candies and rice cakes, contemplating what pancake iteration to make. As it's Pancake Day and all that. Which, having never celebrated it in the old country nor really properly taking part here in that I will continue to do everything I usually do after that, seems slightly random.

But you know, any excuse to eat pancakes, I'm hardly going to argue am I?