Superstitions

Just grabbed lunch from a cafe down the road, and noticed that if you wanted to avoid walking on the cracks, Cheltenham is really not a good place to be.

There are paving stones everywhere, and because nowhere here is actually flat, most of the slabs are cracked and though functional, not tessellating.

The other day I briefly had a chat to someone about superstitions. I'm surprised at the number of people I've met (especcially 'rational' ones) who won't walk over drains. Now I said that I avoid walking under ladders but for the reason that they may well slip of something could easily fall off from them, whereas the drain covers are designed to be walked on. Obviously if one's fallen into disrepair then yes, avoid it. But what else is there to be worried about?

I also had a huge argument (really a heated discussion but I won't deny there was a bit of name-calling) the other day with someone about religion. Yay. I was trying to explain to them that even if they themselves don't believe in anything, there are positives people gain from beliefs and also it isn't ok to go around dictating to others that they should and shouldn't believe something. And that you can share something with people even if they don't have the same attitudes as you. This person just couldn't get that, but we agreed to just let it go before too many black eyes were exchanged.

Back on the spirit of tolerance, I've been making Christmas cookies! They're meant to have holes pierced in each of them so you can hang them on a tree but our tree is already crammed and I don't see the point wasting time using food as decoration when it can be eaten!

It's been a while

So it's now December, the tree is up (thanks, Jo) and we have spent more money than we should have on hopefully beloved gifts.

Tom managed a whole month without shaving his moustache through November, albeit creating a blonde 'tash and ginger chin. But I'm proud that he managed it!

Work is going well. Just over a month ago I was making a few silly mistakes but it seems I have managed to avoid being too cocky and repeated them (mostly) which is progress. I'm a proud soul and hate being corrected or disciplined in any way so although I do need to be chastised once in a while I don't like it! But eventually I'll get it together.

We've been seeing a lot of my family recently, which is always nice, and this weekend coming we're heading up to Blackpool to see some of Tom's relations. But my folks should be visiting us on Christmas day.

Also, today my nails are all sparkly and my hair is amazingly smooth!

Not dead, just lazy with updates

So the crunchy leaves have become slippery mush, all grassy areas have become muddy, Tewkesbury is getting nervous and the rest of us are tired of wind, rain, cold, rain and more bloody rain. Weather is crap and we're all getting the pre-Christmas blues.

However last week the guys in the office got bored and put up the decorations. We now have the saddest plastic tree is existence which is actually shedding pins and a stubborn piece of tinsel which would not stay attached to the door frame. But hey, it's gaudy enough to make you smile!

Relationships

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the relationships in our lives and how we behave within them. My most prominent relationship at the moment is probably with Tom, as we’re a couple and we are actively making the plans for our relationship’s future, but we each have our own connections and relationships with other people.

I am enjoying a new active relationship with Jesus, if I may phrase it that way. It’s been enriching to become part of a church again, and one that is rather different from my previous church experiences. It’s more traditional, perhaps less hierarchal, and there’s more “sit-stand-sit-stand” which gives my legs a break from going to sleep. Also individual silver shot glasses for communion wine which tickles me!

But witnessing others’ relationships around me can be enlightening and heart-warming, as well as difficult and upsetting. I recently watched a loved one have a big argument with some family members over their treatment of a mutual relation, which resulted in both arguers cutting off immediate contact with each other and a lot of internal misery (at least at the end I was with) which breaks my heart. How can we cause so much pain to one another?

I’m not at all innocent in these issues; those who were around during my teens may remember a bad-tempered girl who was constantly fighting her mother and giving her grief and struggling with her peers. I can’t swear to being a totally reformed character but I hope I value people more and show them – even if I have to live fifty miles away from mum to have that! And even then we can still piss each other off.

So in the back of my mind the horrible truth that one day whatever offspring I  product will come to hate me in turn too. Great.

But back to the here and now. Family should not be divided over money and power. Neither should couples. Or friends. We are all human at the end of the day, so the only real resentment I think can harbour is the acts which hurt each other. And we should try to not do many of those too.

From leaves to streams

Left the house to go to church this morning and found the roads into the village had become small rivers with cars splashing several feet of water up each side whenever they managed to drive past. Hmm. 

Well, meeting called off as it was unsafe and more than a bit wet out, so I spent the day home sitting about most of the time, which we all know is one of my favourite past times.

But it summed up a weekend which has been good considering so little has gone to plan...

Sat my parents came up to us with the intentions of going shopping, getting me to try my wedding dress again with the rest of the ensemble, and then a meal at the pub with Tom's parents before heading to a fireworks display.

Meal times had to be rearranged, then cancelled, but we got to cook my folks a roast (which was actually delicious it must be said). However it was chucking it down all day so no town, and no fireworks. But we did brave a trip to a pub for a pint and conversation, which somehow mostly ended up being about snakes, much to my mother's displeasure.

So now it's the evening, the waters have finally drained away and Tom and I managed to have a dry walk to the shop and back so now we have the staples of bread, milk and halloween-themed creme eggs. I also booked tomorrow off purely because I decided I don't like that Sunday evening feeling of back-to-work-tomorrow so am delaying it for a day. Ah, procrastination!

Leaves

One thing this week I loved: walking through piles of nice dry leaves. So childish, so much fun! Crispy crunchy swishy noises....

Socks

Why is it things start needing to be replaced when you have no money?

At the moment my big problem is socks. I can never have enough of them. As I write this at work (I've finished for the day) I am wearing one short one from a set decorated with owls - very classy - and the left foot has a random Christmas one belonging to Tom. I am becoming that crazy person who hunts down a viable pair (not matching, just similar lengths and elasticity) and finding about a million rags which slide constantly down your ankles to sit about the gaping hole of your heel. And toe holes; worst things ever! Hate them.

Everything about this picture is wrong.

It's the sad reality of needing to do more washing, but trying to get cycles done when you are drying things in your flat in autumn/ winter takes ages. And thus the sock shortage commences and hasn't ended yet. Thankfully I have lots of pants so that's not an issue.

I've also needed some more shoes recently. I hate shoe shopping with a passion. I'm one of these people who will only wear shoes they can walk in and feel remotely comfortable, so for my trips to and from work each day I need shoes that will survive. My walking boots have pretty much bitten the dust and now let the water IN, and my other work-friendly shoes aren't quite comfy enough to powerwalk 4 miles in. Mum found a pair of boots which she gave to me last week, and nice as they are I am now realising I need longer socks with them because they really cling to my calves and warm everything up. Nice!

So as I sit here trying to figure out if I can go enough places sockless this weekend (no) until payday and scratching my sweaty calves, I'm regreting all the rubbish I may have spent my money on this month before I realised my clothes would disintergrate around me. I also want to get some silicone bakeware - very rock n' roll, I know. But I'm actually enjoying having a go at baking recently. It would seem sometimes cakes can work even if it's me making them.

CWP, wedding crap, zzzzzzzzzzzz

Oh yeah, I still have a blog to write. Ahem...

So after that last post I felt an immense release, like all the grief it was about was lifted. Suddenly things were all ok again. On a practical note, we have booked our reception venue and reserved the chapel for the wedding, so the rest of the stuff can be done in the new year. No more wedding stress for a few months!

Work has been rather relaxed recently. I have been mostly finishing my work by early afternoon and spend the rest of the day reading/ dicking around on the computer and demolishing any jobs that get given to me. It's nice to be in a place like that. Also I make a lot of awesome cuppas so people are happy.

Last weekend my parents came up on Saturday so Mum could make us walk around the shops in the rain and buy something she didn't travel fifty miles for (a lucky find though) and we took them to the pub where we are having our wedding reception and they were suitably impressed. A quickish drive (Dad) back to Bicester for a nice curry in the Jaflong and then on Sunday we did the Plowman regular at the Cotswold Wildlife Park. True to our word we took pictures of the penguins for Jo, as well as pictures of everything else. I think we have more photos than the Park archives itself...

We put this as Jo's Facebook profile pic just so she wouldn't miss it.

One of my many fetching hats, it was cold!

One thing we're all complaining of this week is being tired. No one I know seems to have slept well recently, and we're putting it down to the seasons changing. I accidentally overslept this morning thanks to my alarm being a twat and got extra sleep, though I was half and hour late, oops.

Anyway I need to go and buy more food for the lizards and fight temptation to leave Pets At Home with all the baby bearded dragons...

A Quick Confession

With my job one of the things I have to do is plot inception dates on a calendar, as opposed to just typing it in.

There are always a few dates that will be lodged in our minds. Sometimes they are more apparent at certain points of the year.

But for me, every time I look at the calendar on my work computer I always think of 21st May 2005.

She's been on my mind a fair bit lately, I'm not sure why.

One thing at the moment I could really use is her advice. I'm so excited about getting married and keep getting marred in all the details. I could use a close female friend who watched me through the years and should be helping me and sharing in everything right now.

I wish she was here looking through all this with me.

I wish she could meet Tom.

I wish.

October already

And don't it feel it? Weather is horrible - very wet and windy recently and the temperature has really dropped too. What is beautiful is the grass is still striking green, and all the brown and red shades of leaves dropping onto them make a dazzling carpet. Even the mushroom by the wall is starting to die off, which is pleasing Tom.

I did learn today that you can apparently train magpies to speak, so need to get me a magpie and check this!

Life is going ok, work is alright, I'm still very attached to being in bed though. Getting up is a massive challenge. But what's new in that camp?