So Curt has gone AWOL, and it's scaring the crap out of me. I'm mocking myself, with the title, because that's what I do when I'm freaking out about things. I make them sound unimportant, like I'm overreacting, like one of those idiot girls who goes into a major panic when the douchebag she went out with at the weekend didn't call when he said he would. And who the hell knows, maybe I am.
For the last couple weeks Curt and I have been talking a lot. Texting for hours, just friendly banter, you know how it goes. He IS my best friend, after all. We talked every day, and he was supposed to come and spend Christmas Eve with me. On the 22nd his mom had a cold and had to cancel lunch plans with him. On the 23rd it was the flu. On Christmas Eve he texted me in the morning and told me the doctors thought it was swine flu, and he might have to take her to the emergency room if her fever got any higher. He updated me a couple times in the day. At 4.30 he called me and told me they were in the hospital, waiting for results on some sort of test, and when they got through and he knew if she had to stay in or not, he'd call me and see if it was too late to come over. I said, even if it's too late please call me anyway and tell me how she's doing, and he agreed.
He didn't call. Late that night I texted him to ask how she's doing, and he didn't reply. Christmas Day I texted to say Merry Christmas and how's your mom? and he didn't reply. Boxing Day I texted to say, I'm really getting quite worried now, if you can't call it's OK but please send a text and let me know she's alright, and he didn't reply. On the 27th and 28th I left him alone, and yesterday I texted to say Happy birthday, and how's mom doing? and he didn't reply. Today he was supposed to be coming over and I was going to either take him out for dinner for his birthday, or cook for him, and he hasn't called or texted me to say either that he's coming, or that he can't make it.
This is not a man who ignores my messages. When we've been out of touch it might take him a few days to get back to me, but when we're in a phase where we're talking a lot, it takes him a couple hours max. And for him to miss two dates, and not call me when he knows I'm worried about his mom...well, that's scaring the hell out of me right now. In ten years, the ONLY times he's ever avoided responding to my messages are when he's been going through something so bad that he can't bear to talk to anyone, and then he hibernates and cuts out the whole world. And even then, he doesn't always cut me out, he usually calls me in the middle of the night to talk things out.
Which leaves me with:
a) His mom did have swine flu, and she died;
b) His mom DOES have swine flu, and she's sick enough that he hasn't made it into work to check his work text message account, and he's not getting the texts I send to his cell phone because i) he's lost or broken it (which happens surprisingly often to him) or ii) his wife is intercepting them and deleting them before he reads them;
c) He's been in some sort of accident and is either i) dead or ii) comatose;
d) He caught the swine flu from his mom and is either i) dead or ii) too sick to remember to get in touch with me;
or e) He's just a total c***.
I'd like to think that e) isn't a possibility; I've known - and been best friends with - the guy nearly a decade, and I've never known him to do anything like this. But if none of A-D is correct, if he's alive and well and his mom's alive and well, then he IS a c***, becuse he should know from my messages how worried I am.
Nonetheless, I hope that in a couple days I'm flaming his ass for his jackassery, instead of comforting him - or, God forbid, needing comfort myself.
I'll make you all a nice post detailing my Christmas soon...for now, I'm going back to holding off the heart attacks with yet more sugar and Beethoven.
Friday 31 December 2010
Saturday 11 December 2010
Will Pay In Hand Jobs
I don't suppose there's any pharmacists / doctors / "street pharmacists" in the Herts area who could bring me Otomize ear spray tonight.
Will pay in sexual favors.
Will pay in sexual favors.
Blog Games And Hotlists
Well, I'm home from Somerset, but I'll have to tell you all about that another time, I'm tired and both ears are now infected, and are killing me. And of course, I'm nearly out of eardrops, and it's a Friday so I can't get any till Monday. *sigh*
But enough whinging.
Now, I don't always participate in blog games, but I do like them a whole lot. And one that I'm definitely up for playing is LadyUnlaced's Virtual Gifts game. Go to this post - LadyU's Christmas Blog Challenge! - and read about it, since she explains it better than I can. And from now till New Years, watch out for my gift posts!
Oh, and just a heads up - in the next few days I will be hotlisting all the people I like on the blogs here, because it's one way for me to keep track of you in the status box (unlike most people on here, I actually do like the status box, heh) and my watched blogs list seems to be screwy atm. I would friend all of you, but standard members seem to have lost the ability to send invites. Boo hoo.
Anyway, if you get a hotlist from me, it's not me hitting on you, just my way of keeping an eye on you. It means I think you're awesome, so don't freak out too much. I only lech when it's wanted.
Enjoy your weekend!
What do you use your hotlist for? What about the flirts?
But enough whinging.
Now, I don't always participate in blog games, but I do like them a whole lot. And one that I'm definitely up for playing is LadyUnlaced's Virtual Gifts game. Go to this post - LadyU's Christmas Blog Challenge! - and read about it, since she explains it better than I can. And from now till New Years, watch out for my gift posts!
Oh, and just a heads up - in the next few days I will be hotlisting all the people I like on the blogs here, because it's one way for me to keep track of you in the status box (unlike most people on here, I actually do like the status box, heh) and my watched blogs list seems to be screwy atm. I would friend all of you, but standard members seem to have lost the ability to send invites. Boo hoo.
Anyway, if you get a hotlist from me, it's not me hitting on you, just my way of keeping an eye on you. It means I think you're awesome, so don't freak out too much. I only lech when it's wanted.
Enjoy your weekend!
What do you use your hotlist for? What about the flirts?
Tuesday 7 December 2010
So Many Targets, So Little...Actually, There's Plenty Of Time
"NO! I TOLD YOU! ALL THE FUCKING TIME, NOW LEAVE JESS' SEAT ALONE!"
This is what the woman sitting opposite me - the one who, five minutes ago, was ignoring her crying baby while she sent text after text on her cell phone - is currently screaming at one of the other two children. Who is approximately three years old. Granted, both of the little girls (minus the one in the pram) are running wild, and I would have liked to see them have a little more decorum. But hell, if that's the kind of parenting mom does, what can you expect?
Yes, I know. I'm judging too soon. She could just be having a really, really bad day. Maybe she got dumped. Maybe she got fired. Maybe her father has just found out his AML has come back after a long remission. Who the heck knows? All I know is that I'm in a snarky mood right now, and that woman is very close to getting a tongue-lashing from me. Especially since she told one of her kids to sit in my (reserved) seat, without even asking me.
I booked my ticket online. I checked the boxes to request a seat on a table, with a power point for my laptop, and explained to them that I'm disabled and cannot sit comfortably in a normal seat. I paid the extra for the privilege and was assured that my seat would be there. I paid my booking fee. Of course, I got to the train, and it's not the seat I paid for. If I sit in the seat they gave me I'll be in agony after ten minutes, and this is a two-hour journey. So I'm sitting here on the floor of the train, because three men - who aren't even using electricals, for fuck's sake - have occupied the table seats.
Oh, lovely, the older child - probably five - has just asked her mother, "Where shall I put my bloody wet ones?" Not sure what wet ones they are, I'm hoping it's just tissue or something.
In addition to this, when I was at Farringdon - which is the first leg of a three-leg journey - some asshole - heck, some DOUCHEBAG - was in such a hurry, he pushed my suitcase over, knocked it down a step, and the base of one of the wheels shattered. And of course the wheel came off. And because the wheel base shattered, there's nothing to attach the wheel to. I have no idea if there are people out there who repair suitcases, although I hope there are, because I am miserable at the thought that my beautiful, expensive, hot pink Pierre Cardin suitcase, which I've only used twice, may now be unusable. I did buy travel insurance with the ticket, which I know covers theft, but frankly I'm not overly impressed with the company's record so far, so who the heck knows if they would pay for damage?
I know that by tonight, or at least by the time I get home and no longer have to lug 45lbs on one wheel, I'll be laughing about this. All the crap is a learning experience, right? But right now, I'm snarky, because I'm in a great deal of pain because of someone else's screwup.
This is on top of the really fucked up text message I got this morning from the BFF:
I am not using this phone for this week so please don't contact me on it. Will ring you later. Don't reply to this text.
Never in my life has he sent me a text like this, and he always, ALWAYS encourages me to text him back. Even when he's at work, he'll take five minutes out to have a little conversation, even if it's just one or two messages before he tells me he has to get back to work. Whatever it is that's preventing him from getting in touch with me would have to be pretty serious, because my Mom - a woman he calls Mom, too - had a serious accident on Friday, and last time I spoke to him he was very anxious to get the news of whether there was internal bleeding or not. (There wasn't, she just cracked a couple ribs, and after four days of running around 24-7, trying to do everything she needed, in addition to everything I needed, she's insisted that I go down to Somerset, albeit a day late. And Ryan's looking after her now, to set my mind at ease a bit.)
So there are at least three people that I want to flame right now - wifey, yelling mother and inane trainline people - and I expect, that when I'm in this kind of mood, I can probably think of a couple more if I really try.
Shit. My back is killing me, and my legs hurt.
I'll try and post you something a bit more upbeat tonight, but for now I'm going to go and listen to some fuck-off music, and maybe find a cup of coffee. That'll help my moods, right?
And if I ever, EVER use the f-word when screaming at my three-year-old, you all have my permission to hunt me down.
This is what the woman sitting opposite me - the one who, five minutes ago, was ignoring her crying baby while she sent text after text on her cell phone - is currently screaming at one of the other two children. Who is approximately three years old. Granted, both of the little girls (minus the one in the pram) are running wild, and I would have liked to see them have a little more decorum. But hell, if that's the kind of parenting mom does, what can you expect?
Yes, I know. I'm judging too soon. She could just be having a really, really bad day. Maybe she got dumped. Maybe she got fired. Maybe her father has just found out his AML has come back after a long remission. Who the heck knows? All I know is that I'm in a snarky mood right now, and that woman is very close to getting a tongue-lashing from me. Especially since she told one of her kids to sit in my (reserved) seat, without even asking me.
I booked my ticket online. I checked the boxes to request a seat on a table, with a power point for my laptop, and explained to them that I'm disabled and cannot sit comfortably in a normal seat. I paid the extra for the privilege and was assured that my seat would be there. I paid my booking fee. Of course, I got to the train, and it's not the seat I paid for. If I sit in the seat they gave me I'll be in agony after ten minutes, and this is a two-hour journey. So I'm sitting here on the floor of the train, because three men - who aren't even using electricals, for fuck's sake - have occupied the table seats.
Oh, lovely, the older child - probably five - has just asked her mother, "Where shall I put my bloody wet ones?" Not sure what wet ones they are, I'm hoping it's just tissue or something.
In addition to this, when I was at Farringdon - which is the first leg of a three-leg journey - some asshole - heck, some DOUCHEBAG - was in such a hurry, he pushed my suitcase over, knocked it down a step, and the base of one of the wheels shattered. And of course the wheel came off. And because the wheel base shattered, there's nothing to attach the wheel to. I have no idea if there are people out there who repair suitcases, although I hope there are, because I am miserable at the thought that my beautiful, expensive, hot pink Pierre Cardin suitcase, which I've only used twice, may now be unusable. I did buy travel insurance with the ticket, which I know covers theft, but frankly I'm not overly impressed with the company's record so far, so who the heck knows if they would pay for damage?
I know that by tonight, or at least by the time I get home and no longer have to lug 45lbs on one wheel, I'll be laughing about this. All the crap is a learning experience, right? But right now, I'm snarky, because I'm in a great deal of pain because of someone else's screwup.
This is on top of the really fucked up text message I got this morning from the BFF:
I am not using this phone for this week so please don't contact me on it. Will ring you later. Don't reply to this text.
Never in my life has he sent me a text like this, and he always, ALWAYS encourages me to text him back. Even when he's at work, he'll take five minutes out to have a little conversation, even if it's just one or two messages before he tells me he has to get back to work. Whatever it is that's preventing him from getting in touch with me would have to be pretty serious, because my Mom - a woman he calls Mom, too - had a serious accident on Friday, and last time I spoke to him he was very anxious to get the news of whether there was internal bleeding or not. (There wasn't, she just cracked a couple ribs, and after four days of running around 24-7, trying to do everything she needed, in addition to everything I needed, she's insisted that I go down to Somerset, albeit a day late. And Ryan's looking after her now, to set my mind at ease a bit.)
So there are at least three people that I want to flame right now - wifey, yelling mother and inane trainline people - and I expect, that when I'm in this kind of mood, I can probably think of a couple more if I really try.
Shit. My back is killing me, and my legs hurt.
I'll try and post you something a bit more upbeat tonight, but for now I'm going to go and listen to some fuck-off music, and maybe find a cup of coffee. That'll help my moods, right?
And if I ever, EVER use the f-word when screaming at my three-year-old, you all have my permission to hunt me down.
My God-Given Solace
To borrow a phrase from the wonderfully fabulous ArtemisJ, I call shenanigans on the packing fairies. I would have sworn in a court of law that I only packed a few things, plus the presents for my father's side of the family, and now somehow I have a 3 foot x 2 foot x 1 foot case, weighing roundabout 45lbs, and I can only assume that some naughty little imps have snuck things in when my back was turned.
And I'm only going for two freakin' days!
So yeah, I'm getting on a train down to Somerset in an hour or so, to see Papa and Stepmama. I thought I had to leave for the station at 11.15, but I misread my train time - it's an hour later than I thought - so I don't have to leave till 12.15 now. So I'm watching crummy daytime TV and wishing I was in bed, or at least wishing that I'd got some sleep last night. Unfortunately I had pain, and nausea, and just couldn't sleep. So I played on Farmville, and wrapped the presents, and played Sonic the Hedgehog, and talked a little to Kurisu-san (who works various hours in a bar, and last night he didn't get off until 4-ish).
We only talked for fifteen or twenty minutes, but it was really nice - I hadn't talked to him since before my lack of internet. He and his girlfriend went to Paris for a couple days, right after the last post that I mentioned him in, and then my internet went away, and since then we just haven't connected. But it was so good to talk to him. Being around him brings me peace. It's been that way since the first lesson I had with him. He walked into the room, the first day of the second semester of Japanese last year, and I looked at him and felt like I'd known him and loved him for years. Nearly a year's gone by since then and that feeling hasn't faded. The title of this post is what Morgan once called Garcia in Criminal Minds, and while I've never been entirely comfortable with the idea of a person getting their solace and peace from another person (as opposed to drawing it from inside themselves), the phrase feels curiously appropriate for how I feel around K. I hear music when I'm around people I know well and care about; they all carry their own theme music - and K plays the Second Movement from Beethoven's Emperor Concerto.
To be honest, even though words and I seem to get along fairly well most of the time, that piece of music - and the way it makes me feel - trumps anything I could ever say about him.
Well, enough of the sappiness - I need to check a couple things online, and then make a sandwich and find some socks and try to work out if I have the energy to carry some of the presents in a carrier bag, because I'm worried that all the beautiful wrappings that I spent hours making perfect will tear if I try and cram them all into my suitcase.
It's Tuesday morning now, I'm planning to come back on Thursday afternoon. Papa doesn't talk all that much since his stroke, and even spending the day there can be a little difficult sometimes, so it's likely that I'll have plenty of spare time in the next few days. So either I'll be online a whole heck of a lot, or not at all, depending on whether or not I can get a signal down in the depths of the countryside.
Love y'all, and hopefully I'll talk to you soon.
And I'm only going for two freakin' days!
So yeah, I'm getting on a train down to Somerset in an hour or so, to see Papa and Stepmama. I thought I had to leave for the station at 11.15, but I misread my train time - it's an hour later than I thought - so I don't have to leave till 12.15 now. So I'm watching crummy daytime TV and wishing I was in bed, or at least wishing that I'd got some sleep last night. Unfortunately I had pain, and nausea, and just couldn't sleep. So I played on Farmville, and wrapped the presents, and played Sonic the Hedgehog, and talked a little to Kurisu-san (who works various hours in a bar, and last night he didn't get off until 4-ish).
We only talked for fifteen or twenty minutes, but it was really nice - I hadn't talked to him since before my lack of internet. He and his girlfriend went to Paris for a couple days, right after the last post that I mentioned him in, and then my internet went away, and since then we just haven't connected. But it was so good to talk to him. Being around him brings me peace. It's been that way since the first lesson I had with him. He walked into the room, the first day of the second semester of Japanese last year, and I looked at him and felt like I'd known him and loved him for years. Nearly a year's gone by since then and that feeling hasn't faded. The title of this post is what Morgan once called Garcia in Criminal Minds, and while I've never been entirely comfortable with the idea of a person getting their solace and peace from another person (as opposed to drawing it from inside themselves), the phrase feels curiously appropriate for how I feel around K. I hear music when I'm around people I know well and care about; they all carry their own theme music - and K plays the Second Movement from Beethoven's Emperor Concerto.
To be honest, even though words and I seem to get along fairly well most of the time, that piece of music - and the way it makes me feel - trumps anything I could ever say about him.
Well, enough of the sappiness - I need to check a couple things online, and then make a sandwich and find some socks and try to work out if I have the energy to carry some of the presents in a carrier bag, because I'm worried that all the beautiful wrappings that I spent hours making perfect will tear if I try and cram them all into my suitcase.
It's Tuesday morning now, I'm planning to come back on Thursday afternoon. Papa doesn't talk all that much since his stroke, and even spending the day there can be a little difficult sometimes, so it's likely that I'll have plenty of spare time in the next few days. So either I'll be online a whole heck of a lot, or not at all, depending on whether or not I can get a signal down in the depths of the countryside.
Love y'all, and hopefully I'll talk to you soon.
Friday 3 December 2010
I'm Back, Babies
After a week of being confined to emergency internet (ridiculously expensive - in six hours I'd spent £15, which is what my usual MONTHLY bill is) and then a couple days of no internet at all, I can safely say that while it was a frustrating week, I did manage to get a lot done. I don't think you really realise how much of your time work takes up until you don't / can't work for a week.
I did a lot of Christmas shopping. I'm now done, except for Margie (my sister-in-law's mother), and a couple of little things for Ivy and Zia (friends from college who I only see now and then, but send little things to at Christmas - earrings, bookmarks, that kind of thing). Considering that in any given year I have somewhere between 20 and 40 friends and relatives to buy presents for, some of whom need multiple gifts, I think that completing my Christmas shopping by early December is pretty impressive. ESPECIALLY considering I haven't even gotten into London yet. I do need to go to the Trocadero for some last-minute things, mostly for Mom (and me, LOL), but the bulk is done.
Of course, there are always more things that I want to buy. It doesn't matter if I'm done by September - which I am, some years - I always, ALWAYS find things in the shops that I want to get for people, right up to Christmas Eve.
Yeah, I overspend at Christmas. I love giving gifts. Luckily, when your parents have multiple partners, you end up with halves and steps all over the place, and that makes Christmas shopping really fun.
:D
I really want to get a new wok for Mom, since the old one is starting to burn a bit when you cook, no matter how well you treat it. Even when I cut meat up using my Sabatier knives, which cut so cleanly that there's no scrappy bits at all, it still burns sometimes. I really shouldn't spend more money, though, or she'll be embarrassed. I suppose I could tell Tony, but I'm not sure if he'd get the right one. She needs a 31-cm Ken Hom from Robert Dyas. The 35-cm is too heavy, and the other brands are crappy, they put all sorts of teflon coating on, and they don't cook properly. Believe me, I've tried a whole lot of them, and none of the British-designed ones work well.
For a white girl who's never learned proper Asian cooking - or at least one who's self-taught - I know my woks.
:P
Ooh, or I could buy one for her birthday. Yeah, I'll do that. Problem solved.
My budget (oh, okay, my overdraft) even managed to stretch to a couple of things for me. A cropped white cardigan, very thin (read: must buy a nude bra to wear underneath it, or wear with a dress) with fabric roses and faux-pearl beads around the neckline. Sounds ridiculously feminine, but on me it works. A navy blue silk skirt from Jaeger, with tiny white polkadots on that falls down in a profusion of ruffles - that I somehow managed to get for £8.50 in the charity shop. I bought it for court - yes, there are occasions when Sati actually has to look respectable - but according to my kids, I look more like I should be going to Ascot or watching the polo. (They can bite me, because dressing well really DOES sway decisions in your favor sometimes, no matter how much people may laugh at the idea.)
Oh, and a green velour elf outfit that was going for half-price in Ann Summers. There's a halterneck dress with white faux-fur around the neck, and a matching hat and gauntlets for your forearms. The dress is far too short and tight to wear out in public without tights or leggings - because of my long long body, it doesn't even cover my ass, although on most women it would probably be a couple inches below - but with a white skirt or opaque tights, it's very cute.
You can't really see the whole outfit there, but there isn't anyone around to take pictures of me - Mom is death to machines - and so a close-up is the best you're getting. For now. Oh, and please excuse the giant mosquito bites on my cheek and chin. (I know, mozzies at this time of year - WTF?)
What else did I do while I was away? I arranged a time (this coming Monday) to go to Somerset to see Papa and Stepmama. I'll probably stay a couple days. I got the decorations out of the attic today, and got absolutely filthy doing it. I made many lists, including who I need to write cards to, although I didn't get round to actually writing them yet. I had a makeover at the Body Shop, which was really nice - the last time I sat in a chair in a shop and had someone pamper me was a haircut in November 2005. I love haircuts, and facials (STFU, pervs) and manicures and pedicures and reflexology and massages and...oh hell, I could go on forever - but I simply do not have the money to spend on myself. I cut my hair myself, or Mom does it. The rest...well, I try to keep myself looking neat and tidy at home, and occasionally do a pedi or something, but not as often as I'd like. I really need a gal pal for stuff like that; I love having so many male friends, but none of them are much for beauty and relaxation treatments. Except for LOML, funnily enough. I don't think he'd do anything like that at home, but I can definitely see him taking a spa weekend and getting massages and stuff.
Actually, now I think of that, I lied. Christie gave me a manicure in the summer. And she offered to cut and color my hair, and I'll probably take her up on the cut - we just haven't made our schedules coordinate, aside from Thanksgiving dinner.
I read several books. I'm currently on Southern Vampires (aka TrueBlood) number 6 - don't ask me what it's called, I can never keep the titles straight - and have read all the previous ones (aside from 2, which I don't have) in the last week. I read a couple of romances, too, and a little of this book that I bought on criminal profiling.
I talked to Curt a couple times. He called me yesterday and left a very funny message on my voicemail, singing Merry Christmas to me in a Santa voice...and then promptly fell ill. He left the message at 1.30-ish, when I was in the bath, and by the time I called him back 2 hours later he had the flu and had lost his voice, and couldn't talk to me. Oh dear. Could just be a cold, though. I love the man, but he is a little prone to exaggeration, especially when it comes to his health - every cold is the flu or pneumonia, every stomachache is appendicitis. It makes it a bit hard to know when he's really truly sick, and when he's just feeling a bit miserable. He's still at work, so I don't think he's at death's door yet, but I do hope that he's got someone around to remind him to keep drinking water and all that stuff.
I slept. Like, a LOT.
I got another ear infection, which is giving me a lot of trouble right now - which is why I'm online at nearly 6am. That makes three in the last couple months (two of them in the last month) and I didn't even bother going to the doctor for the second and third ones. There's nothing that they'll do for me other than give me the drops that I already have. I probably should go back and demand a swab, though, since it seems to be passing from ear to ear with no apparent reason. I don't use Q-tips, I don't use earplugs - I haven't even used headphones recently, since I still haven't taken my iPod in to be fixed - and I haven't been swimming recently either. I don't know why the infection keeps spreading around, after a couple years of not having it. I know it can't be poor hygiene - I'm the most anal person I know when it comes to personal cleanliness, although my surroundings sometimes get a bit dusty.
I'm sure I have other news, but I'm damned if I can remember it right now. I'm getting very sleepy - well, I've been sleepy all along, but the sleepy was masked with hungry / horny / pain - so I'm gonna take some paracetamol and see if I can get some shut-eye.
It'll take me awhile to catch up on blogs, but I hope to get it done soon. And then I can make a start on my mail inbox. *rolls eyes*
Happy Advent!
I did a lot of Christmas shopping. I'm now done, except for Margie (my sister-in-law's mother), and a couple of little things for Ivy and Zia (friends from college who I only see now and then, but send little things to at Christmas - earrings, bookmarks, that kind of thing). Considering that in any given year I have somewhere between 20 and 40 friends and relatives to buy presents for, some of whom need multiple gifts, I think that completing my Christmas shopping by early December is pretty impressive. ESPECIALLY considering I haven't even gotten into London yet. I do need to go to the Trocadero for some last-minute things, mostly for Mom (and me, LOL), but the bulk is done.
Of course, there are always more things that I want to buy. It doesn't matter if I'm done by September - which I am, some years - I always, ALWAYS find things in the shops that I want to get for people, right up to Christmas Eve.
Yeah, I overspend at Christmas. I love giving gifts. Luckily, when your parents have multiple partners, you end up with halves and steps all over the place, and that makes Christmas shopping really fun.
:D
I really want to get a new wok for Mom, since the old one is starting to burn a bit when you cook, no matter how well you treat it. Even when I cut meat up using my Sabatier knives, which cut so cleanly that there's no scrappy bits at all, it still burns sometimes. I really shouldn't spend more money, though, or she'll be embarrassed. I suppose I could tell Tony, but I'm not sure if he'd get the right one. She needs a 31-cm Ken Hom from Robert Dyas. The 35-cm is too heavy, and the other brands are crappy, they put all sorts of teflon coating on, and they don't cook properly. Believe me, I've tried a whole lot of them, and none of the British-designed ones work well.
For a white girl who's never learned proper Asian cooking - or at least one who's self-taught - I know my woks.
:P
Ooh, or I could buy one for her birthday. Yeah, I'll do that. Problem solved.
My budget (oh, okay, my overdraft) even managed to stretch to a couple of things for me. A cropped white cardigan, very thin (read: must buy a nude bra to wear underneath it, or wear with a dress) with fabric roses and faux-pearl beads around the neckline. Sounds ridiculously feminine, but on me it works. A navy blue silk skirt from Jaeger, with tiny white polkadots on that falls down in a profusion of ruffles - that I somehow managed to get for £8.50 in the charity shop. I bought it for court - yes, there are occasions when Sati actually has to look respectable - but according to my kids, I look more like I should be going to Ascot or watching the polo. (They can bite me, because dressing well really DOES sway decisions in your favor sometimes, no matter how much people may laugh at the idea.)
Oh, and a green velour elf outfit that was going for half-price in Ann Summers. There's a halterneck dress with white faux-fur around the neck, and a matching hat and gauntlets for your forearms. The dress is far too short and tight to wear out in public without tights or leggings - because of my long long body, it doesn't even cover my ass, although on most women it would probably be a couple inches below - but with a white skirt or opaque tights, it's very cute.
You can't really see the whole outfit there, but there isn't anyone around to take pictures of me - Mom is death to machines - and so a close-up is the best you're getting. For now. Oh, and please excuse the giant mosquito bites on my cheek and chin. (I know, mozzies at this time of year - WTF?)
What else did I do while I was away? I arranged a time (this coming Monday) to go to Somerset to see Papa and Stepmama. I'll probably stay a couple days. I got the decorations out of the attic today, and got absolutely filthy doing it. I made many lists, including who I need to write cards to, although I didn't get round to actually writing them yet. I had a makeover at the Body Shop, which was really nice - the last time I sat in a chair in a shop and had someone pamper me was a haircut in November 2005. I love haircuts, and facials (STFU, pervs) and manicures and pedicures and reflexology and massages and...oh hell, I could go on forever - but I simply do not have the money to spend on myself. I cut my hair myself, or Mom does it. The rest...well, I try to keep myself looking neat and tidy at home, and occasionally do a pedi or something, but not as often as I'd like. I really need a gal pal for stuff like that; I love having so many male friends, but none of them are much for beauty and relaxation treatments. Except for LOML, funnily enough. I don't think he'd do anything like that at home, but I can definitely see him taking a spa weekend and getting massages and stuff.
Actually, now I think of that, I lied. Christie gave me a manicure in the summer. And she offered to cut and color my hair, and I'll probably take her up on the cut - we just haven't made our schedules coordinate, aside from Thanksgiving dinner.
I read several books. I'm currently on Southern Vampires (aka TrueBlood) number 6 - don't ask me what it's called, I can never keep the titles straight - and have read all the previous ones (aside from 2, which I don't have) in the last week. I read a couple of romances, too, and a little of this book that I bought on criminal profiling.
I talked to Curt a couple times. He called me yesterday and left a very funny message on my voicemail, singing Merry Christmas to me in a Santa voice...and then promptly fell ill. He left the message at 1.30-ish, when I was in the bath, and by the time I called him back 2 hours later he had the flu and had lost his voice, and couldn't talk to me. Oh dear. Could just be a cold, though. I love the man, but he is a little prone to exaggeration, especially when it comes to his health - every cold is the flu or pneumonia, every stomachache is appendicitis. It makes it a bit hard to know when he's really truly sick, and when he's just feeling a bit miserable. He's still at work, so I don't think he's at death's door yet, but I do hope that he's got someone around to remind him to keep drinking water and all that stuff.
I slept. Like, a LOT.
I got another ear infection, which is giving me a lot of trouble right now - which is why I'm online at nearly 6am. That makes three in the last couple months (two of them in the last month) and I didn't even bother going to the doctor for the second and third ones. There's nothing that they'll do for me other than give me the drops that I already have. I probably should go back and demand a swab, though, since it seems to be passing from ear to ear with no apparent reason. I don't use Q-tips, I don't use earplugs - I haven't even used headphones recently, since I still haven't taken my iPod in to be fixed - and I haven't been swimming recently either. I don't know why the infection keeps spreading around, after a couple years of not having it. I know it can't be poor hygiene - I'm the most anal person I know when it comes to personal cleanliness, although my surroundings sometimes get a bit dusty.
I'm sure I have other news, but I'm damned if I can remember it right now. I'm getting very sleepy - well, I've been sleepy all along, but the sleepy was masked with hungry / horny / pain - so I'm gonna take some paracetamol and see if I can get some shut-eye.
It'll take me awhile to catch up on blogs, but I hope to get it done soon. And then I can make a start on my mail inbox. *rolls eyes*
Happy Advent!
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