Snow bother
20 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
in All about me, Edinburgh, Travel, Uncategorized Tags: Edinburgh, scotrail, snow
Was it just a month ago that I was bemoaning the lack of snow and dreaming of it’s fluffy whiteness? I take it all back, I’m over it now. After falling flat on my back on Princes Street on day two of the snow I was fed up. Not just fed up, but fed up and cold, wet, bruised and sore. My feelings towards the snow haven’t really improved since then.
However, look at some of our playing in the snow photos, I must admit that this was a lovely day in the snow. Old disused cemetarys take on a beautiful quality in the snow.
The snow was up over the top of my wellies, but since the cemetary is across the street from my flat wet feet were nothing to worry about and we went for a good explore.
That day in the snow was fun. What wasn’t fun was the day Lothian Buses stopped all bus services (completely understandable, I’m not complaining about them) and I got stuck at work and had to walk 5 miles home through the snow which in parts was elbow deep! I tell you, walking on the road on the A71 is a terrifying experience, but it’s one for the grandkids!
Despite all of this, my absolute worse snow moment of the year was trying to get the train from Edinburgh to Inverness yesterday. The train was half an hour late, which meant I had to stand in the snow on the platform at Haymarket for 45 minutes losing all feeling in my feet.
The train was then so ridiculously cold I can’t even describe it. I kept all my layers on and wrapped myself in a blanket too – thanking my foresight of packing one. It just didn’t get warm. Then they put the air-conditioning on and it was so cold you could see your breath. The only thing I can compare it to is when the dementors come onto the train in Harry Potter. Add all that to a nasty hangover and it really was the journey from hell. On the plus side, I’ve now made it home and wont be stranded in Edinburgh for Christmas.
The Happy List
25 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: favourite things, happy
Things that are making me happy just now:
The met office forecasting snow. Though I’m a bit impatient now, everywhere other than Edinburgh seems to have snow. The sooner we get it the better. I’m like a child when it comes to snow, it makes me so excited and happy! In fact, I’ve put on my snowflake pyjamas to try and help it snow!
I dream of it being like this again.
Listening to Take That again. I’ve not got the new album yet, but I’ve spent a enjoyable few hours at work listening to the greatest hits. – The rule I’ve decided upon for the office is ‘first in gets to chose the music’, so far this is working out very well for me. That said, I’ve not quite told my boss this, so he seems to be happily putting up with my music choice for now!
Ridiculously excited to see all 5 of them together again!
Shopping. I’ve done a lot of shopping over the last few days. I’d like to say that it’s been Christmas presents, but it really hasn’t. It’s all been for me! And here are my two new favourites.
Could this H&M top be any cuter?
30% off in Gap, go on then...
Coffee. I’m a sefl confessed coffee addict, and a Starbucks addict at that. Nothing makes me happier than the yearly return of the red cups and the Christmas coffees. Now that the wee Starbucks in my work has started doing Gingerbread Lattes I’m on a definite caffeine high all day, every day.
Not my favourite red cup design, but it'll do!
Live music. I went to see Gaslight Anthem last week and they were great. I’d forgotten how happy seeing good live music makes me, the singing and dancing along and getting caught up in the moment. It always helps when a gig is in the Picturehouse as it has a long narrow stage which means I can always see!
Actually love this band.
Reading. I’ve managed to get back to reading and am rarely without a book in my handbag these days. I’ve just finished ‘One Day’ by David Nicholls. It’s incredible, really makes you think.
Go read this book.
It’s nearly the Christmas holidays. We finish up on the 20th December and don’t start back again until the 7th January. I can’t wait, I feel like I need a proper break and 3 weeks is definitely a proper break!
The countdown is on!
That’s my wee list. What’s making you happy just now?
Poker Face
08 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
The last two weekends I’ve been gambling, something I’ve never done before.
A few weeks ago on a drunken night out we ended up in the casino, my memories are very hazy, I know I was there, but that’s about it. My first trip to a casino and I don’t remember it. It’s a little bit disappointing. So when a friend suggested going to the casino last weekend for her birthday I was more than happy to go along, see what I’d missed the first time round.
I had a great time, a friend taught me to play roulette, I got quite into it, and by the end of the night I was only £5 down, so all in all I was happy with the situation. Oddly, when I went to cash my ‘winnings’ or ‘losings’ depending on how you look at it, I had to confirm my address when I handed in my card. I reeled off my address, to be told no that’s not it. Hmm… Maybe in my drunken signing up I’d put my old address in Leith (I’d only moved a month previously), but no that wasn’t it either. Finally the girl asked me if West Brae meant anything to me? Yes, yes it did. West Brae was my Paisley address. Absolutely no idea why I would have registered with that address, still totally confused by it.
Then this weekend we decided to have a quiet night in round at the boy’s*. A poker night to be precise. I’ve only ever played poker once in my life, but decided to go for it. Again it was a great night, I didn’t win, I didn’t even nearly win, I was the second person to go out, but it was fun.
I think I like the etiquette of gambling like that, I like rules and systems, so it appeals to me. Things need to be done properly and precisely. I could really get used to it, as long as I stay with £2 buy ins I don’t think it’s going to be a problem!
Funny picture time – As two of us were totally new to poker, we were using the back of the pack of cards that had all the hands printed on it. Unfortunately the pictures were so small we couldn’t see them, so a magnifying glass came to the rescue. – And yes, I’m wearing my hair ‘au naturale’ again.
*The boy being my flatmate’s boyfriend.
Remember Remember the Fifth of November
07 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
I love bonfire night. Absolutely love it. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s my favourite night of the year. Never mind Christmas, New Year or Birthdays, for me it’s all about the fireworks.
I’ve always loved getting wrapped up and going to stand in a park/field/green somewhere to watch the fireworks and ohh and ahh over them. I get so excited it’s almost childlike.
When I lived in Glasgow it was a yearly trip to Glasgow Green to watch the show set to music, we liked to make a night of it and usually a big group of us went and then we went for a few drinks afterwards.
Last year I went to the fireworks display at Meadowbank Stadium with a group of International students, even though I was officially working, I still really enjoyed it. Though something was lost when you’re sitting on seats in the stands rather than on soggy ground.
This year however, was possibly my best bonfire night in years. My friends’ birthday happens to be on the 5th November and this year she was celebrating on the actual night. About 18 of us went round to hers where she’d cooked massive pots of chilli (my favourite food ever), baked potatoes and bought in fireworks. It was a fantastic night, bizzarely all dressed up for a night out, but with winter boots on, standing in the rain, clutching a glass of wine watching her flatmates set off fireworks in the garden.
I can honestly say I don’t remember the last time I enjoyed bonfire night so much, in a relaxed setting, lots of friends around me and basic fireworks, none of this ridiculously expensive city council stuff. This is my plan from now on in, enjoying my favourite night without the crowds and with some wine.
I ♥ Autumn
13 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: autumn, favourite things, love
There’s a chill in the air and Winter is definitely on its way. Sitting on the sofa in pyjamas and wrapped in a blanket I feel far from cosy. There’s a draft coming in the window and it’s proper chilly.
It’s times like this that I miss being at home, there is nothing like Autumn/Winter evenings spent by the fire, but alas, Edinburgh is distinctly lacking in fires, so I’ll make to with a blanket and hot water bottle. I had a look at our boiler the other night to try figure out how to switch the heating on, with no luck; I’m going to have to ask the boy* to do it, and he’ll laugh at my incompetence, but then do it anyway.
I do love this time of year though, when the leaves are changing, and the mornings are perfect. Crisp, sunny and cold; nothing beats a good Autumnal morning. I love having the excuse to wrap up in lots of layers and to buy Autumnal brown clothes, and most importantly, to put the summer sandals into retirement and bring out the boots! I’ve got myself a wonderful Autumn jacket this year, it’s fluffy inside and feels like wearing a teddy bear! If it wasn’t so ridiculously warm in my office I think I’d happily wear it all day.
Chai tea, pumpkin pies and lots of stews and casseroles. Food in Autumn is so much better, I like summer and eating light things, but nothing beats a good hearty meal on a cold night! Making a big pan of bolognaise (or sugo depending on who I’m speaking to) and freezing it to enjoy for weeks to come, home made soup, sticky toffee pudding with hot custard. My stomach is rumbling just thinking about it!
The Danish have a word ‘hygge’, it doesn’t exactly translate, but it means cosy, warm feeling. It’s not just a feeling, it’s an attitude, a lifestyle. Wikipedia describes it as ‘a complete absence of anything annoying, irritating or emotionally overwhelming, and the presence of and pleasure from comforting, gentle and soothing things’. The Danes link it a lot to Christmas, but for me, it’s what Autumn is all about.
Autumn is also when my mum and sister make one of their twice yearly trips to visit, conveniently during my little sister’s school holidays. Last October when they visited, I was still new to Edinburgh, but now I’ve been here for a while, so can show them about properly and take them to lovely little places. I can’t wait! …I wonder if illegal jacks is child friendly during the day….
The downside is that Autumn getting cold means that Winter is nearly here, and then the nice crisp coolness of Autumn give way to wet, sludgy Winter days, where you are cold wet and miserable, and getting the bus in the morning is even more horrible than usual. I’m not going to dwell on that though, still at least a month until that’s the case!
*the boy is my housemate’s boyfriend, we joke that he’s a communal boy, who does the ‘man stuff’ for any of us; he’s good like that.
No Friday the 13th fear here
10 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
It’s just gone 10:10 on 10/10/10, I’m sure that should be significant, but really, last year we had 09:09 on 09/09/09 and nothing spectacular happened then.
Some people invest a lot of time and thought into these beliefs about special times or places, but I’m not convinced. I am a total sceptic about superstition and mysterious happenings. I was brought up with very superstitious grandparents, my gran would go as far as to turn round mirrors and cover reflective surfaces when there was a thunderstorm (not sure why come to think of it) and my grandad would turn a coin in his pocket when there was a full moon. My grandad would also throw salt over his shoulder if he spiilled any and my gran had a proverb for everything too, and when I was young I learnt to write by copying out proverbs – but that’s an aside.
Now when I spill salt I still throw some over my shoulder (left of course) or if I see the full moon I think about turning a coin , but it’s not a superstitious thing, it’s just a memory that makes me smile. I wouldn’t walk under a ladder if I could avoid it, but more though common sense than fear. I have no problems with black cats and I’ll happily stand on cracks on the pavements.
Superstition is a strange thing, I understand the logic behind most of it, but find it strange that to this day it is still something people live their lives by. I think it’s not so common in the cities as it is in the highlands, but then you still get people in the highlands who tell the stories of fairys and the like, so I can see why they would believe. In the modern day though, science has taken over and superstition is dying out.
With all my phobias (a whole other post there) even I think I should be superstitious, but it’s just little things that make me smile and it makes me smile when other people take it seriously. Ghostly happenings though, now that’s a whole other story and not one for writing about while I’m in on my own!
2.4 kids
10 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
From the 30 days meme, for the full list click here
Something I hope to do in my life
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do with my life, and I’m not sure, I don’t have a long term career plan, at the moment I’m happy just where am I and happy seeing where things take me.
I did an exercise with a group that I was training last weekend, and it was a draw your life journey, getting to know each other thing. My past was easy, growing up in the highlands, idyllic childhood almost right out of an Enid Blyton book; moving to Glasgow, going to uni. My current was easy too, moving to Edinburgh, starting my real life job, and a few work achievements.
My future, that was difficult. I drew a wee house still in Edinburgh, as the next thing I’d like is to buy my own house (ok, it’s Edinburgh, I realise it’ll be a flat not a house). The next stage of my future was more complicated. I don’t know what I want career wise, but I do know that I want to settle down, get married, have a family and move back to the Highlands to bring them up the way I was brought up.
The thing I hope to do most is to have a family, and I hadn’t realised it until recently. I’m not broody at the moment, just as well since I’m single, but I really want kids. I want to make packed lunches, send them off to school, do homework with them, and help them learn to play instruments. That’s what I hope to do in my life. It might go against years and years of women fighting for liberation, but I’m happy with my career just now and am in no hurry to settle down. I just know that one day, that’s what I want.
Freshers the full time perspective
14 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
Ah Freshers Week. Marking the end of the long, long quiet Summer and the start of term madness.
I worked 12 days in a row, doing silly hours, before coming down with freshers flu which had me collapsed in bed for 2 days solid. How much was flu and how much was exhaustion I’m not sure, either way I’m glad it’s all over for another year. I’ve pretty much not been online in the last two weeks, think my google-reader is sitting at around 200, which is just crazy!
I enjoy freshers week, the buzz of new students on campus, seeing all the volunteers back after the Summer, hearing the funny stories of what the freshers (and volunteers) get up to, but I think my favourite part is all the staff pitching together, doing tasks way outside our job descripton (helping students move into halls?!), but just all getting on with it and getting through the week. It’s been a great teambuilder for our new small team, and it’s made a huge difference to the general feeling in the office.
Now that Freshers is over, the real work begins, apparently semester is the stressful time for the students, but it’s stressful for us too. It’s just go go go from now untill Christmas, when I’ll get to collapse in a heap again. It was just a few weeks into semester 1 that I came down with stress related shingles last year, and I’m not having any of that nonsense again! Quarantine is no fun, and I don’t have time for it this year.
Just a quick wee blog tonight, as I’m about to go and make the most of my first early night in weeks and go to my bed and sleep for hours.
I am who I am
23 Aug 2010 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: happiness, life, love
I was at a work conference this weekend, maybe about 100 people there, I knew roughly half of them. The majority of these were acquaintances that I see at these events, but some were former colleagues and some of them I’d known for over 5 years.
It was lovely to see them all, to catch up with them, hear their stories, and to have work chat with people who really understand.
What wasn’t so lovely was their questioning of me. The general “how are you?”, was followed by “so, what’s happening with your work?” (my work is currently restructuring and rumours are flying round the sector). And once I’d deflected that line of questioning as quickly as possible, the inevitable would be asked.
“How’s your love life?”, “Are you still single?”, “Any men on the go?”. Argh, it infuriates me. Is it so difficult to believe that I’m happy enough single, I manage perfectly well by myself and I don’t need a man by my side to make me happy.
It’s so frustrating! I have a good job, wonderful friends and I live a great life. Yet I’m still judged by whether or not I’m in a relationship.
My work sector is meant to be forward thinking and progressive, and yet I feel people forget it’s 2010, and do you know what, it’s ok, I choose to be single. Don’t pity me! I’m happy, successful and can make plans at the drop of a hat and be spontaneous. I can’t say the same for most of my coupled up friends.
Packing light
18 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: clothes, moving
I have a ridiculous amount of clothes. I was sorting through them last night while packing, I discovered that I had 9 pairs of jeans. Now, 9 pairs of jeans doesn’t sound too bad, but considering I never wear trousers it’s a bit excessive. I managed (by donating to friends and charity shops) to get that down to 3 pairs, which I guess is still silly since I’ve worn jeans exactly 7 times this year!
I couldn’t (and didn’t want to) count my dresses. They just kept coming out my wardrobe, one after another. I was far less ruthless with them. I wear a dress pretty much every single day, so I couldn’t bring myself to part with many – just the odd one or two that are too big for me now.
Hoodies, another item of which I have way too many. I think I probably have 15-20 of them. I know I’ll find it difficult to part with any, despite the fact I rarely wear them, with the whole not wearing trousers thing! They don’t go so well with dresses.
I’m dreading getting to my shoes. I halved my collection when I moved to Edinburgh last year, but I think I’m back up to about the same number again. Going through my shoe collection is something I need help with, otherwise I’ll never get rid of any.
I’ve also during this packing and clearing spell realised how many bags I have. I probably never need to buy another bag in my life, but I will….
I’m definitely not a girl who could have a capsule wardrobe! I’ve no idea if I’m going to be able to fit all my clothes in my new wee room. I’ll keep you posted.
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