Day 42 Bad habit(s) you have

I have a tendency to jiggle my legs around when I'm waiting to have bloodwork done or before an interview through nerves.

Apparently I do a subtle shoulder wiggle when I am uncomfrotable in conversation.

Hmmm. I'm pretty much the anti-pickyournose police so don't really have too many bad habits...

I get cross easily with people (drivers / people shopping etc). Not sure if that's a habit though!

Day 41 Whatever tickles your fancy

My Grandad is out of hospital but is so afraid of dying that he kept ringing ambulances and shouting at his neighbours to help him in the middle of the night. So he's now a resident of the same care home as my Grandma Joyce (his wife). It is a relief for the whole family to know that they are both being monitored and being looked after.

I keep hearing songs that they always used to sing to me when I was little but then never remember the names of any of them!

Hopefully we'll manage to get up there next year but funds are lacking atm :(

Just fancied writing down that they're ok.

Day 40 A letter to a deceased person you wish you could talk to

I am lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents (at the moment anyway) and a pretty healthy family. If there was one deseased person I'd have interest in speaking to it woud probably be someone like the late Freddie Mercury. I have watched loads of programmes about his life and wish I could understand more about his character etc. My step mum would probably love it too!

Day 39 Zodiac sign and do you think it fits your personality

I am a Virgo. I would say that I am pretty typical.

Modest and shy
Meticulous and reliable
Practical and diligent
Intelligent and analytical (I would like to think!)

Fussy and a worrier
Overcritical and harsh
Perfectionist and conservative

The only attributes in this list I was unsure of are in orange. I'm not particularly practical and diligent sounds a bit sumbmissive to me.

I think Tabby posted the massive section from the website on Virgo personality (are we virgoans? I never know!) So if you fancy a look again it's here: http://www.astrology-online.com/virgo.htm

It discusses cleanliness and needing things in order. I'm much better now that I have lived with Dan for 4 years. I understand that other people can't always meet my expectations on the tidiness front and can adapt to this. With exception of my sister that is. She is horrendously untidy and doesn't care about rooms smelling nice or washing clothes. I really struggled with having her here. Dan knows how odd I am about having things in their right places. I hate having anything on the fireplace (honestly why do people put their dirty plates / car keys / phones on our fireplace??) or in my line of vision on the floor. Ok I'm mad, moving on!!

It goes onto having trust issues and being self concious, both of which I can relate to well. I am constantly putting pressure on myself etc. It sucks.

So they bring the art of self concealment to a high pitch, hiding their apprehensiveness about themselves and their often considerable sympathy with other people under a mantle of matter-of-factness and undemonstrative, quiet reserve. They are still waters that run deep. Yet in their unassuming, outwardly cheerful and agreeable fashion, they can be sensible, discreet, well spoken, wise and witty, with a good understanding of other people's problems which they can tackle with a practicality not always evident in their own personal relationships.

Yep yep and yep.

LIKES
• Health foods
• Lists
• Hygiene
• Order
• Wholesomeness  ??

DISLIKES
• Hazards to health
• Anything sordid
• Sloppy workers
• Squalor
• Being uncertain

You rarely hear the word squalor these days! I guess these fit me. Lists are my favourite of course, they help me to be organised and get things done. So yeah, I am your typical virgo(an) destined to be obsessive compulsive and reserved forever and ever.

Cool Places

Writers Block Question:
What's your favorite city or town that you've visited? Why do you love it?

My favourite UK city has to be Bath. My earliest memory of it is when I was about 6. I remember getting a magazine with free black jack sweets I hated and palmed off on my Dad. We did the whole visiting the Roman Baths thing because I was obsessed with history (I was an odd child) and it was very exciting.

More recently Dan and I went together as a couple. We stayed in the Travel Lodge that has a Wagamama's (my favurite restaurant in the UK) beneath it. We took lots of lovely walks which mostly involved looking for piggies (http://www.kingbladudspigs.org/)

We also went to a couple of tea rooms (Not Sally Lunn's because it was too busy!) We also visited the Roman Baths! Some pictures of the very beautiful and historic Bath:

Day 38 A photo of your parent(s)

There aren't many photo's of my parents together but luckily my graduation helped with this one. My Step Dad is in this one too. Weird!! Mum on the left. Dad on the right.

Day 37 A song that you like to dance to

Sorry I've been a rubbish blogger. My grandad is still in hospital and has taken a turn for the worse so a bit preoccupied.

I like to dance to lots of songs, normally in the car (much to the disdain of BoyFace) or whilst cleaning. At home I like to listen to XFM and dance to the likes of:

Day 36 Some hobbies of yours

• Baking
• Reading
• Watching films
• Looking after our animals
• Shopping (when we have the funds!!)

Day 35 A letter to your crush

Dear Crush-a,



Love from Me x

(lazy I know but in agony with my hip atm :( )

Day 34 Your favourite quote

I'm sure I have looooads but cannot think of any!!

[a bit later...]

• A number of religions in Ank-Morpork still practised human sacrifice, except that they didn’t really need to practice any more because they had got so good at it. — (Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!)
• I was going to put an educational quote but they are all quite cheesey!
• "Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho." (Die Hard)

[a bit later still...]

Watched a lush review and one of the ingredients was ylang ylang oil so it reminded me of this:

Day 33 What you’re craving right now

Sleep. I was woken up by Dan at about 6.32 because I slept right through the 6.30 alarm going off. Getting really bad at doing that but where he likes to have a million snoozes in the morning, my brain just block the sound out now!

Money. Too obvious? Need some for Christmas!

Seeing my Dad :( Even though I only saw him a month ago!

Oh and I really would like to purchase a cupcake from the Swallow Bakery today (even though the moody manager hates people who are gluten free / hates people!!).

Day 32 A photo you took

I know I could post an artsy fartsy photo but I have chosen this one instead!

This photo makes me happy because believe it or not my Dad was fast asleep as we all piled on the cushions and soft toys Evie (my little sister, probably 5 years old at this point) could find! We were very disappointed that there was no 'Buckaroo' moment :(

Day 31 Whatever tickles your fancy

Whatever tickles my fancy eh? Hmmm.

Recent events:

It's my first proper shift tutoring today (eek). Start at 4pm. Dan finishes work at 4.30 :S. A well thought through plan!

Our very clever guinea pig Rodney now chooses when he wants to come out and play with us or not using a step fashioned out of a lunchbox. So cute! Chuck is now really into watching tv and flattens himself out, cuddling into our legs. He enjoyed the film 'Open Season' yesterday.

My Grandad decided he was going to fall down the stairs last week and needed a blood transfusion. He's 78! I think he's ok though. Its about the 3rd time it's happened in 2 years but they won't move into a bungalow because they feel it isn't worth it. Old people!! I still have all of my Grandparents *knocks wood* because somehow they seem to bounce back from their crazy antics. Bodes well for future me I think.

Can't think of anything else! Til next time x

Day 30 A letter to the friendliest person you knew for only one day

It's 2 days late, sorry! And to make matters worse I can't think of a really friendly person I only knew for one day. I'm full of disappointments :P

Day 29 Provide the HEX code of your favorite color

#00ADF7

This colour is known as "Méemo Blue" in my family because when I first went to Uni in Plymouth everything was colour coordinated with this shade of blue.

Closest I could find through Google Images:

Day 28 Favourite places to shop

Feeling uber tired and lazy today so I'm giving you just one...


My favourite place to shop is LUSH. I love being pampered and the staff are so lovely in each of the branches that you always end up spending more than you intended! They offer free samples of things you want to try (some quite sizeable ones) and hold fun parties and goodie bag giveaways now and again. All of their strategies make shopping fun. There's nothing I get from Lush and think "urgh I wish I hadn't picked that up" (except for the black menthol bath ballistic that was supposed to look like coal last Christmas... ew)


Some of my favourite things from Lush:

Big Shampoo turns the volume up of my very fine and lifeless locks. The big granules of salt take a little bit of getting used to but when you smell it and see how shiny it makes your hair you can't help but fall in love! (Not good for frizzy types).

This is a current fave but it is a limited edition for Halloween (Day of the Dead) Celebrations. Calacas (skulls) are so yummy and make you smell of lime jelly babies (As pointed out by my OH). Really helps me to get out of bed in the morning (can assume this is down to the uplifting neroli and lime scent) and lasts absolutely ages. I have a backup yellow pot too so I can enjoy this one a bit longer!

This picture shows off Bob soap apparently but my chunk looks nothing like this. Mine is much more sludgy purple and green with lots of glitter. Its a Christmas Retro product atm and I have bought it for the last 2 years because it smells of cinnamon and terry's chocolate oranges. Mmmmm. Christmas in a soap!

Facial cleansers aren't the most exciting products in the world usually but after trying Buche de Noel (Xmas special again) I got a FREE sample of this (Angels on Bare Skin) and have been using it for 5 days and only halfway through. I started becoming allergic to my Simple skincare products for some reason and switching to Lush skincare has really helped me to avoid having itchy eyes. Not sure what changed in the formulation or what I'm allergic to but it's nice to have a nice, fresh alternative!


Hope you have enjoyed :)

Day 27 A talent of yours

I wouldn't consider myself a talented person as such. I can't play an instrument, I can't cook a posh meal and I can't knit / sew / crochet. I do think I am good at keeping my house tidy if that counts? I am good at being organised and organising other people (i.e. Dan :D).

Day 26 Favorite books

I loooove books. However, I seriously need motivation to open them these days. I think thats what happens when you do 3 English courses in your second year of college and then take on an English Degree (which I actually dropped out of because the 18th century tomes were too heavy going and I was ill / homesick).


Anywhoodle, (a few of) my favourite books are as follows:


The Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton - I used to love these stories because they took you to another world. I used to imagine climbing the faraway tree and eating pop biscuits with Moonface. Also the human characters had amazing names; Jo, Bessie, Fanny and Dick. The last two were changed consistently on my placement by my class teacher which made me laugh. Richard and Frances would have sufficed but I think she completely made them up instead John and Susan (something like that anyway!). I read this book for the first time when I was about seven or eight years old and have read it about 10 times since. I think its hidden in a moving box now though!


The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood - My amazing English Lit A level tutor introduced us to this book. She was so passionate about it and the story had so much depth that we had no choice but to be sucked in. The characters are brilliant, as is the plot. The topics presented are quite sensitive and thought provoking i.e. slavery, using women as carriers for the rich folks babies and a particularly graphic sounding murder. Not lighthearted but enjoyable.


Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult - I read this book whilst on holiday last year. I could barely put it down. The story centres around a troubled teenager whose love for his best friend is unrequited. This leads up to him going mental and commiting a heinous crime which only takes 19 minutes (if you've ever seen Bowling for Columbine you'll see some similarities between real and fictional worlds). It is a book written from many different perspectives (Each chapter is written from a different characters viewpoint) giving a deep understanding of the events that unfold.


I think thats probably enough now!

Day 25 A letter to someone you judged by their first impression

Sorry for completely forgetting you yesterday blogpants. Here is another installment.

Dear Ex-College Tutor,

Back whe I was in your class I didn't understand why someone who was 6 years older than me was teaching me things I already knew. Whenever I asked questions you didn't seem overly sure and I gave you loads of grief. Now I'm nearly your age and I am really sorry. You were actually a sweet girl trying to make the best of things and you'd been catapulted into our class halfway through the year. When you fell down the stairs and hurt yourself, you tried not to cry in front of us. You did anyway. I felt bad then for confronting you about you lack of knowledge. I *wish* I could obtain the job you had or any job in fact which obviously means you were good for something (even if you couldn't tell me about certain child development theorists!). I bet you are amazing now!!

Me x

Day 24 Time to face morph

I *loved* doing this! I continued doing it with pictures of Dan too which was hilarious.

Me as a monkey.

Baby Me

Afro Carribean Me!

East Asian Me

West Asian me

Some artists interpretation

Botticelli Me

Manga me

:D

Day 23 Share one of your current favourite tunes

I am loving The XX at the moment. I first heard them on indie radio station XFM and fell in lurve straight away. The DJ at the time asked if anyone had made out to their album since is quite calm and seductive. I just want to say, no I haven't!


The XX - Crystalised

Feeling Rubbish

I think I might be cursed! The only teaching job anywhere near me, they don't accept NQT's. The only nursery job I can find apparently closed a week ago but hasn't been taken off the site (even though it says the closing date is tomorrow). The only jobs I can find anywhere that I am possibly qualified for are things like working for a bank or in retail. AAAARGH. I blame my parents for giving me my crap eyesight and mobility issues.  If not for them I would be able to actually DRIVE places. I would actually be able to get a bloody bus on my own because I'd be able to read the route number. I fucking hate it. [rant over/]

Day 22 A photo that makes you happy

This picture was taken at my Mum's Wedding. I told Dan to capture all of the moments when we weren't posing so that our photo's weren't exactly the same as everyone else's. Plus my Auntie Elaine (great aunt) on the left and her husband on the right are the nicest people to ever walk the earth. She is trying to hide her many chins here apparently! My sister is doing her natural smile and my mum looks gorgeous. I think it's the most beautiful I have ever seen her (despite brushing the hair from her face!). I hope I look as good as her at 50!!

I tried matching the text to my Mum's dress :D

Day 21 Your favourite television program

I am going to share 2 of my favourite television programmes with you today.

The first of which is the Gilmore Girls. I *wish* people were really like the characters in this show. Everyone would look after each other and get their handsome hunk of a cafe owner to fall in love with them. Everyone would know everything about each other and have a best friend they'd known since nursery. I seriously want to be adopted into the Gilmore household. The 'Gilmore Girls' love old movies and snacking and everybody loves them. Sometimes when I'm pigging out I feel like I am channeling my inner Lorelei!

Here is a clip of their fast talking...




My other favourite has to be Masterchef. I enjoy salavating over their creations and choosing who I think is going to suck at judging. I always find a handsome man to gawp at and an underdog to cheer on and unlike most talent shows these people actually have cooking ability! Plus I love the judges and presenters of the show. Greg Wallace for the win!

Masterchef innuendo's:

Day 20 A letter to someone that changed your life

Dear Someone,

You have changed my life in so many ways. Some good and some terrible. Let's start with the latter category just to be sure of chronological order.

You broke my parents marriage up (more than once). My mum will never recover from what you did. She'll pretend that everything is fine and that she's moved on but pain like that runs deep. Really, how could you? My sister was tiny and I had been in hospital and you were the last thing my family needed. But there you were.

So then we moved (continents) and life went on and so did the affair. We're not stupid...

Mum saw sense finally and removed you from our lives. Or at least we thought. We saw Dad once a fortnight throughout our teenage years because of you. I resented you for it. Mum got a degree for herself and supported us completely but then she resented us for needing her like that.

Then Dad took us out for a meal one night. Chiquito's. Nothing says I'm going to completely change your life like mexican food. He told us he was seeing you again. Mum went spare.

We met you and exchanged nicities. Bex had only just found out what had gone on previously but we tried to get along.

Now onto the good:
You married my Dad.
We get on pretty well now and you worry about him like I want you to.
You gave me my half sister. She is a bit of a brat but we love her.
You think about us and care about us. You go out of your way to look after us.
My Dad is happy.

Just a shame we had to get here from all the other crap. It's not how you do things.

Love from Me x

Day 19 Whatever tickles your fancy

This is not going to be very interesting for those not animal obsessed but our guinea pigs made the "I want food please" whooping noise for the first time this morning! I'd heard of it happening on websites and youtube but they'd never done it. Instead, Chuck usually ran away as soon as you'd approach the cage but there they were standing on tiptoes and asking for their healthy breakfast of piggy nuggets, kale and a carrot.

It went a little something like this:



Also, Halloween was VERY exciting. We bought 2 fun size packs of mars bars and carves a pumpkin to go in our porchway. We put it out about 5.20pm and we didnt have to wait long for our first trick or treaters. The first of which had a little brother who couldn't make it down our driveway because he was frightened of our jack o lantern.

There was (were?) certainly a range of ages from little toddlers to teenagers. The one I wasn't expecting was one mum with 8 kids, I couldn't get the mars bars to them soon enough. Little hands everywhere and barely a thank you between them! Luckily we live in quite a nice area so they were the only ones I came back in from a bit shocked. If people have gone to the effort of giving your children sweets the least you can do is say thank you. In contrast, one little girl said thank you three times off her own back and was reminded by her dad to say thank you so she said it again, bless her!

We will be more prepared with more sweets next time I think.