Did I mention it was my birthday two days ago?

Yep, I turned 26!

...

You're all confused, aren't you? Like, 'Wait, LJ/FB/Myspace didn't tell me! And, er, didn't she just have her birthday two months ago?!'

See, I follow two calenders: the universally used and accepted Gregorian calendar, which follows a pre-set order relating to the Earth's path around the Sun; and my religious calendar, which also has twelve months in a year, but the months change according to the moon, ie, it is lunar based. A new moon means a new religious month. This means that my religious calendar is out of step from the Gregorian calendar by approximately ten days a year - lunar months are either 29 or 30 days long, so the days move 'backwards' compared to the solar calendar.

This is a long winded way of saying that two days ago was my religious birthday and because of the shift backwards, I am one year older on the lunar calendar compared to the solar calendar!

***

Blah blah blah, I'm such a dork.

***

MEME TIME. Everyone and their pet dog are doing them at the moment, and I'm nothing but if not a sheep when it comes to memes! However, I decided to ressurect an older meme instead, rather than do one of the ones floating about on the flist at the moment.

A) People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

B) Tag eight people to do this quiz. Those who are tagged cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by.


( do the dork dance now, come on! )

***

YES, IT IS EID IN TWO DAYS :D. This means family and food and fun. Shall be awesome: this time we're celebrating with my parents, as we celebrated the last one with his. So tonight, Boy and I are driving homeward bound to my folks house. I am muchos pleased by this, yes :D. We have bought Thornton's chocolates for the occasion!

***

Right, let me go find Boy. It's a little quiet, I wonder what he's up to...


(PS. I totally booked our room for Asylum 4, yays :D)

So, life, you really are a rollercoaster these days.

Boring stuff first: kitchen floor is awesome and shiny and complete and warm in spots and cold in others, haha. (The underfloor heating mat isn't in the areas that'll be eventually covered by units.) All base units have been made and unfortunately we're going to have to trim the back bit of one/two of our units in order to get our dishwasher in: we decided to go with the brand that gave us extra room for pipes and stuff and now it's biting us on the butt LOL. Anyhow, the tiler is here again, this time he's doing the wall tiles for us. After that, it's all up to us! Yay!


Next: I am cold. I should probably put something on. Brrr.


New Moon: So I went to watch NM yesterday with the sister at Piccadilly. Cinema? Lovely. Seriously, very very nice! Movie? Well, the acting was a lot better, definately. And my sister was all in a flutter for Taylor Lautner (she's all 'Team Werewolf!' when he's on screen LOL), and she wasn't the only one: our screen was packed out and there were serious rumblings through the audience when he got shirtless. Later on, I realised that most of the audience were TwiMoms and that was just so wrong! Urgh. ANYWAY. Movie itself, cast did a better job, and the movie was pretty faithful to the book (I remember saying that Twilight was the best book-to-movie adaptation I had seen in that it was almost completely faithful to the book) but there's no hiding the direness of the plot. I was actually bored for a lot of the movie, kept checking my watch. AND! I'm not sure that silence and extreme close-ups of actors nostrils are really the way to get the emotion across. Music ambience really does lend to the scene and I think it was criminally underused. And I really didn't want to count RPattz pores everytime the camera is on him, thankyouverymuch!!

That being said, Charlie ♥ :D


Jonas: the gig was 'in the round' this time, and not wanting to be smooshed by tweenies again, Sis and I opted for tier seats. We got a really nice view of the full stage from where we were which didn't involve us standing on tiptoes and yelling at the idiots in the front who insist on standing on their chairs. Sis had a lone Grandma next to her who was totally into it: singing, clapping, dancing, the works. Next to me, I had two girls who came in after the support act, wearing Supernatural t-shirts. I attempted to make conversation but they weren't Chatty Kathys. If anything, they were quite boring: they sat for a lot of the show, and then left early. Huh, each to their own, I guess!

The show itself was similar to the June gig in terms of set list, though no 'This Is Me' as no Demi this time. Though, the stage was invaded by bananas during 'BB Good'. NO. JOKE. For some reason, two groups of girls (five in total) came dressed as bananas to the gig, and Joe noticed them and called them up onto the stage for a 'banana-off'!!! The bananas grooved on the wings for the first part of the song and then got to go up on the revolving stage for the latter part. Bizarre!

ETA:


And for 'I Gotta Find You' Joe picked a little girl from the audience to help him sing it and she sang the first part of the chorus each time, it was really cute, :)

Afterwards, Sis and I waited for spndpfrdcrck to join us before heading back home, thoroughly shattered. I really was: nearer the end of the show, I was actually yawning and out of energy. Eeep.


And this morning, I had to wake stupid o'clock as our tiler is an early bird and was here at 8.30am. Sis is still sleeping, the lazy sod. I'm going to get myself something with sleeves and then attempt to do some intellectual work. First up, CAFFIENE. YES.

Next phase of the kitchen has begun *victory arms*! I have been keeping a sporadic photo diary of the proceedings (not a very good one, mind) but hopefully I can show you the progression once we're all done :D

Anywho. Yesterday Boy and I rolled out the element for the underfloor heating and decided on how to lay it down for best heat distribution. Then he sorted out the thermostat while I stuck the element down. Thing is the element is a heating wire that's woven into a fibreglass mesh. We both knew this but it didn't occur to us to wear gloves. OMG THE ITCH. It stung so bad afterwards! My hands felt like they were on fire, like prolonged pins&needles. And after that, even the smallest contact with the mesh intensified the burning.

So, here's a tip for you: if you're working with fibreglass ANYTHING, wear gloves!

At that point, we thought we were done, all prepared for the tiler to come and lay our floor today, but then Boy was reading the instructions for the heating (good thing too!) and he noticed that we had to apply another lay of tile adhesive over the element and let it set before we can apply the tiles on top in order to protect it from the ridging you have to do. But our builder was coming in the morning! This meant we had to get it done last night, but we both had evening shifts at work. So finally about 11pm we went back into the kitchen (after stopping to get more supplies) and I had to lay the adhesive down again... which you can only mix in small batches at a time as it sets in the bucket otherwise. Also, Boy can't stand the sound of the tool scrapping along the floor, so I did the majority of the work. We finally finished at just before 2am *FLOP*. My arms are achy today LOL.

Anyhow, now the tiler is here, and he's laying our floor tiles at the moment. He's doing a great job, I'm glad we decided to just pay him to do it rather than do it ourselves as was our original plan. Anyhow, the floor will be done by this evening, COMPLETE.

YAY!!!

And then we've got three days in which to fit all the base units before he comes back on Sunday to do the wall tiling. After that we've to fit the wall units, put the appliances in, paint any exposed plaster and the ceiling and get the sink bought and fitted, the lights (ceiling and underunit) bought and fitted and the accessories bought and fitted. So still quite a bit to go, but it's the finishing now, the fun stuff :D

***

If it's not the kitchen keeping me busy, it's my tuition work - developing teaching schemes takes a lot more effort than I anticipated as I end up having to work with a deadline as I'm developing and trialing with my classes at the same time.

***

Changing the topic: I bought a new coat yesterday! This one right here. It's a mac, cos I rarely if ever wear a warmer coat than that. When you walk fast and are in and out all the time, any thicker means you get too hot, lol. And I decided I wanted something colourful for once. I always get black, let's try something different!

Still on the topic of clothing, let me ressurect an old question I used to ask regularly: tell what you're wearing today! I want to know your style! Me, I'm wearing black leggings, a black&purple&white print hanky hem top and a purple oversized slouch pocket top. Accessories include purple bangles and a black and pearl ooversized necklace. And then when I go out I'll wear these shoes:

Aren't they cute?! I bought them on impulse, I was going to return them, I took them back and everything but then I just couldn't do it lol.

***

JLS' album is actually rather good, IMHO. Still not feeling the new BonJovi album though, which is a surprise, considering this is me we're talking about lol.

X Factor - Why does Stacey have to talk?! She's so good until she talks! I like little Joe, he's my 'Glee' boy. He's sang two of the Glee songs now - Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing' and Queen's 'Someone To Love' and did a pretty good job of both me thoughts. Also, Jedward? WRONG WRONG WRONG. And why is Lloyd still there and HOW did he beat Jamie?! Jamie was so much better!

/rant.

***

Best go now, Boy is calling me to build our kitchen units. Manual labour awaits!

So, erm, hi guys!

I ache so much right now. And for some crazy reason I keep doing more of the thing that's making me ache. Huh.

Damn you Wii Fit Plus. Damn you!

That being said, definately enjoying the new Wii Fit Plus over the original Wii Fit. They've really improved the gameplay and thought up new and interesting games to play. And the way you can actually tailor your game to achieve a fitness goal is useful too. Last couple of days I've had a calorie goal I've been working to which seems to fly by as I get really competitive at the games. LOL.

As for kitchen remodelling, it's coming along nicely, though progress has slowed slightly as we have to go by a schedule due to our builder guy. The underfloor insulating boards for the heating were put on by yours truly (well, I applied the adhesive at the very least, Boy put the boards down!) and we've got to put the heating element down in time for the floor tiles to be done this Wednesday. I'm hoping the whole thing will be finished within the next three to four weeks (at tops).

Am a bit behind on my tvshows, got a couple of SPN epi's in hand, as well as House and Flash Forward. I want new Psych kplsthnx.

QUESTION! I noticed yesterday there was a new Doctor Who epi... was that one of the specials? How many Ten epi's left and when will they be shown? I haven't seen any since 413, so not the 08 Xmas epi or the Easter 09 epi... shockers!

We did watch '12 Rounds' yesterday, and I think I annoyed Boy with my 'oh this bit is like [insert popular action movie here]!' because it really was. They had ripped off bits of Die Hard, Speed and any other hostage/terrorist movie you could think of and mashed it altogether in a mediocre movie. Ah wells.

Do so want to watch 2012 this Wednesday (2for1!), just depends on when our builder guy leaves us! Have heard good things about it, even though I originally thought it another run-of-the-mill disaster movie. Not that I don't normally enjoy those, however!

Have got work this evening, in some ways its getting harder yet easier each week. Harder in the sense that its tuition so the type of work doesn't change a lot so the kids loose focus a bit, but easier in that I know what to expect with the kids and I feel a lot more prepared than I used to.

Going back to fandom for a second, I think this next thing shows you how little time I get to spend online, on LJ, these days: only yesterday did I find out about Jensen&Danneel. I know, not something huge (I mean, I'm happy for them but it has no baring on me what they do with their private lives) but in the past I would have known very quickly after these kind of things went public. It makes me slightly sadface to realise that, but at the same time, it's nice having a break from fandom life.

Right. Best go do RL things. Can I just say that I hate that even though I just ironed LOADS yeterday, I somehow have already got more items in my ironing basket. Bah humbug, laundry!

Take care folks. I'm off to lurk on the flist for a bit :)

Hey trusty flist, I have a request from y'all...

See, I got visitors coming over for breakfast tomorrow so am going to be making belgian waffles (among other things)... what's your favourite/recommended toppings for waffles? Suggestions begged for, recipes are bonus!

Also: SMOOTHIES. Yes. Suggestions? Ideas? I've some frozen berries some place...

Sorry for being incredibly MIA of late, guys, I seem to have found some semblence of a real life. I know, how weird!

Anyway, I finally found a spare moment to drag self online to actually post rather than stalk my flist as I am dying of the common cold. No, really, I feel like death warmed over. Bleurgh.

So let's see what I have to talk about since the last time I was on here...

1. My inlaws are safe and sound in Singapore now and my SIL is slowly getting better day by day. It helps that her parents are with her to help her get over the loss, so I'm glad for that.

2. My own parents went to Syria&Lebanon for two weeks, totally enjoying themselves. It's like being in a time warp, they say.

3. My SIL (bro's wife) visited Canada to surprise her sis out there for a week. All these folks travelling everywhere makes my soul itchy!

4. We're currently working on project:house. One of our kitchens has been completely demolished and is now an empty shell. We've bought all the new units and tiles and appliances and they currently sit in our fromt room (!) while we prepare the electrics and replaster the walls and stuff. Yay manual labour.

5. Watched 'Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' last week. Erm.... yeah? I dunno what I thought of it really, I enjoyed the craziness of it, the vivid imaginations and sets, but the plot was a bit... meh.

6. When I'm not in the kitchen, or cooking or cleaning or working, I'm working on writing what is effectively textbooks for each GCSE science module for each GCSE science exam board. that's four exam boards. Each board requires roughly 18 textbooks. Out of that insanely ridiculous number, I have been working flat out and written... eight *FLOPS*. Each book covers one section of the syllabus and is complete with all the information required, oodles of diagrams and images and even more oodles of questions, knowledge checks and past exam questions. IT IS EXHAUSTING WORK.

7. Though, while I have been working on my laptop doing that, I am usually found either in front of our ridiculously large TV (50inches!) or my desktop watching, or rather, listening to one of my tvshows that I am so far behind on. That way I have caught up on Grey's Anatomy, CSI: NY and am working on Heroes. I'm also up to date with a lot more shows than I am not... more cause I listen rather than watch the episodes!

8. Loving the new Backstreet Boys album. Hee.

9. My husband is amazing: I messed up on ordering our new oven and it was blatantly my fault. I've been working ridiculous hours on these science books. I haven't pulled my weight on the kitchen works. Yesterday he even had to call me to bed (we normally go together as neither likes to fall asleep without the other). I am now unwell. I could keep on listing, but still he is ever so patient with me and treats me like a princess. I often wonder how I am deserving of such an amazing man.

10. Talking of the new oven order, I had to call the internet company we ordered it from to try and get the next model up, the one I was meant to order. I noticed in their fine print that should we want to return an appliance they would charge £100 pickup fee (EXTORTIONATE) and I so was not wanting to pay that money... so I got myself weepy and called up and sounded all paniced and upset and I admitted I was at fault but I wasn't thinking clearly cause of the recent family upset and - I didn't even have to go further as the guy I was talking to spoke to his manager who agreed to waive the collection fee provided I bought the newer model from them so they could drop off and pick up at the same time. It took all my willpower not to burst into hysterical giggles and was ever so gushingly grateful for how wonderfully helpful he had been. I then finished the call and did a silly jig around the room in celebration. Sorted!

11. The Boy has hacked our Wii and we now have potentially unlimited games available to us. Hee. We've got the new Wii Fit Plus but have been too busy to take advantage. I think this is seriously sadface so hope to try some this evening if I don't keel over before then.

12. Got call from 20hrsinamerica when she was over here but was unable to meet up as I was expecting my kitchen deliveries that day. So not cool: I'm sorry, Nell!

13. I want a job as a Top Gear presentor. I need not explain this point!

14. The camera lens I ordered at the START OF SEPTEMBER has still not arrived. I KNOW, WTF. I got mad at Royal Mail and they snippily told me that cos it was an international post, its not their concern. So I went back to the guys I bought it from and had a rant. They've now posted me another lens to my parent's address. Should arrive in a week... in theory.

15. The underwire of my favourite bra is currently poking me cos it's come out of it's 'home'. Nooooooooooooooo, I love this bra! And nice bras are always pricey!

16. I need to do the ironing now. And after Boy gets home from work, we're going DIY and gorcery shopping (whee, domestic bliss). So I'll leave you with a bokeh I made of one of my honeymoon photos: