Mixed bag

Well, apart from me getting in a mood with Graham on Friday night the weekend went off without a hitch. We didn't really care that England lost the rugby as they deserved it, and we didn't get drunk either. We did have 2 nice meals out though - I think I'll have to accept that my heavy drinking days are well and truly over and that I prefer a more sedate evening out.

Was nice to see my gran on Sunday as I haven't seen her for a while. She wasn't well though and didn't stay long - she even turned up late as the clocks had gone forward an hour and she hadn't realised. Went for a walk around the nice parts of Cheltenham to remind me how much I like it. I would really love to have a flat on Lypiatt Terrace - I've always fantasised about living there. Went to see my brother quickly, who took me out for a spin in his new BMW M3 which was so powerful it made me feel a bit sick!

It's the last time I'll see any of my family for a while. Mum and Dad are off to Australia next week for 6 weeks and I never really see Neil or my Gran unless I go to see Mum and Dad.

Monday was a horrible day - full of depressing news and my own ill health so I don't want to talk about that. The only good thing that happened was that Graham managed to fix the switch on our shower so it will no longer try to catch fire and burn the flat down.

Tuesday was nondescript to say the least and I continued being ill in different ways to Monday, so went to bed as soon as I got home from work.

It's nice and sunny and warm today - soothing my soul a bit.

Our plans for the Easter weekend are still up in the air. All I know is that we're staying in a hotel in Bloomsbury for the night on Good Friday and going to Alex's bar launch night. We're supposed to be meeting with Graham's friends as well that day, but nobody can decide when and where and what to do! I'm hoping that on Easter Sunday or Monday we are going to meet up with a family from Bristol who have been through the immigration process and who have just received their permanent resident visas to move to Canada. They are leaving for Toronto sometime this summer so it'll be good to pick their brains before they go.

Hungry, need lunch.

Solitude

It's a mad world.

Have had a bizarre day. Been on my own for most of it, just chilling out as there's been no work to do and hardly anyone around to bother me. I didn't have my lunch break until 2.15 when Richard got here, but had been snacking on olives and coffee all morning, whilst filling out immigration forms and the like and looking for a hotel to stay in in London on Good Friday. At 1.30 some member of Chemistry staff came in and asked if I'd like to fill up a plate with some leftover buffet food from the conference they'd just had - how could I turn that down? It wasn't very nice but for free food I guess it was OK.

I've actually quite enjoyed myself today - kind of like having a day off whilst still being at work!

Another weekend beckons - should be an enjoyable and fairly relaxing one. Rugby, drinks and takeaway all day tomorrow, mum and dad's for Sunday lunch and an Easter chat with my Nan.

Bookworm and the grumpy cat

I did the banking at work yesterday and took our little load of cash up to the bank. Unfortunately, Waterstones is just next door to the bank and before I knew it the shop had pulled me in and I was standing in the fiction section. I thought I'll just have a look at that book I am thinking about buying on Friday (payday). The book turns out to have only recently been released in hardback and as I don't want to spend £17 on a book then I decide against it. At that point I should have walked out of the shop but nooooooooo, I can't do that can I? There's a 3 for 2 offer on and after about 10 minutes I find myself holding 4 books - damn. I asked the friendly member of Waterstones staff to help me choose, but he hasn't read any of them, but says that there wasn't one there that he wouldn't recommend. In the end I decided to go for tragedy over comedy, choosing The Lovely Bones, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle and Girlfriend In A Coma and leaving behind The Eyre Affair for another time.

The ginger cat was grumpy yesterday and didn't come to see me, but seeing as it was cold, windy and about to rain I don't really blame her for staying miserably huddled up in the porch waiting for her owner to come home.

I had a very strange combination for dinner last night as I couldn't decide what to have. Ended up with ham and eggs with a side of curried chickpeas! I really wanted bacon but it had gone off.

Graham has the day off today so he's having a boy's day out with his brother and friend. They'll probably end up playing computer games all day like they did last time - obsessed, that's what they are. Liz and Kel were supposed to be coming to Bristol to see me this evening but they've now put it off until April, which is a shame as I haven't seen them since way before Christmas and was looking forward to a girly gossipy night out.

We were meant to go out on Saturday to drink and watch the crucial England-France Six Nations rugby match, but now all of Graham's workmates have pulled out as they are broke, so it looks like we'll be watching it at home after all. Probably a blessing in disguise as I'm trying to save as much money as possible at the moment. The cost of sending in our immigration application for processing is £630 each, and I've also got the holiday to Canada in September to pay for. Eek indeed.

If you'll excuse me, I have breakfast sushi to eat and a library to open up...

Cats

I bought Venue magazine this morning and they have a whole big article on the best places for short breaks in the West Country. Really could have done with that last week when planning our trip to Cornwall, but never mind - I think I've chosen well anyway.

I think the Easter Vac is going to drive me mad - really. I don't have an awful lot of work to do, but I'm forcing myself to do a horribly dull and repetitive task just to keep me going. Even that won't last long now. At least I've got plenty on the net to keep me occupied.

I've been thinking about my cat Gizmo a lot recently for some reason. It's almost 2 year since he died. He was a great character and I do miss him. I miss having a cat around the place, and our entire neighbourhood seems to be dog-orientated so I don't even see many out on the street. I think I've seen maybe three in the whole time we've lived there. I'm just starting to make friends with a timid young ginger thing from the house opposite the bus stop - she seemed to recognise me yesterday and didn't jump off the wall and go running off like she's normally tempted to do.

I'm reading 2 books at the moment. My "read at work" book is Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum, which I've nearly finished. I wasn't sure I liked her style at first but I've really got into it, and the book is tragic in a funny sort of way. It's hard to believe that there are people who really live like that - who are beset by tragedy after tragedy but also have the most hellish family to boot. My "read at home" book is Douglas Coupland's Hey Nostradamus which is good in a different way. I like his style - kind of throwaway contemporary cool but with something profound to say. I also like the fact that the novel is set in North Vancouver (where we'd like to end up) and so a lot of his writing is filled with Vancouver asides that I can relate to.

Pool halls, restaurants, bars and nightclubs

I beat Graham at pool last night - twice (almost - hit the white in after the black the first time round). I don't think he was too amused, especially as I have beaten him at his golfing Xbox game as well recently.

We went out for dinner again - naughty, but payday is on Friday. Decided to check out Teohs at the Old Tobacco Factory. I ate Malaysian curry which was OK, Graham's thai basil chicken was lovely. I don't think we'll be hurrying to go back, though it is good value. Forgot to check out the theatre events going on there - nay mind.

Al rang last night. He is not moving to Boston just yet, which is a shame for him but I'm sure he'll get there sometime this year. He is just about to launch his new bar near Leicester Square. Apparantly he is renting the place on Friday nights for the forseeable future and the launch night is Good Friday. I'm very tempted to get down to London for it. We've always wanted our own bar. What with that and Justin's monthly club night (Lost City Nights at Sub-Logic near Oxford Circus) I could have my weekends in London sorted - if I ever manage to get down there!

Slapstick comedy, slap-up meal

Feeling a bit weird today.
Cold and my scalp keeps tingling.
Don't feel ill though, so that's OK.
And I've nearly caught up on my sleep.

Had some bad news from Australia about my aunt on Friday, which put me on a downer for the rest of the day. Mum and I promised that we wouldn't get drunk and melancholy on Saturday though, and we managed just about - we had a good time at the theatre watching The Play What I Wrote which was very funny (based around a Morecombe and Wise tribute), and then went out to eat like posh pigs in the evening.

Colleys provided a great night as usual and I ate nearly everything put in front of me, which came as some surprise. We ate some hors d'oeuvres (mackeral pate, liver pate, cous cous salad, pasta salad, potato salad, beetroot etc etc), then were served curried courgette soup with sultanas and toasted coconut. For entree we had the choice of chicken liver in a mint batter with spicy salsa or potato and celeriac dauphinois and Mum and I had a bit of both. Then we had lemon sorbet before the mains were served. We had 4 choices - roast lamb with mashed potato, gravy and sundried tomato pesto, pork loin wrapped in parma ham with something and horseradish, fillet of sea bass with warm pimento and butter bean salad, or wild mushroom and thyme tartlet. Mum and I went for the lamb, which was too chewy but otherwise nice, Dad had the fish which tasted lovely, and Graham had the veggie option.

THEN, came pudding - there were loads of them and they all looked as nice as each other. There were profiteroles the size of tennis balls, bread and butter pudding with amaretto cream and marzipan crust, eton nests, lemon and lime parfait, apple tart with toffee apple ice cream, a huge wedge of cheese with pickled onions and crisps - and more that I can't remember. I settled on eating half my bread and butter pudding and attempting an eton nest - but there was so much cream that I couldn't think about finishing. We ended with coffee and blended cheeses and crackers (which I couldn't help but try to polish off after all that sweet pudding).

We did try and walk it off by walking home - braving the gale force winds across the Downs. Somehow I managed to drink a small port and stay up until midnight to wish mum a happy mother's day before collapsing into bed.

Sunday was spent recovering. Watched a great Grand Prix (Jenson Button got his first podium - yay! - and the rest of the field weren't too far behind Michael Schumacher) and 2 films, had a bath and went to bed at the absurd hour of 8.30pm.

I really need to up the exercise and eat even smaller portions this week to cancel out the shocking amounts I put in my stomach this weekend.

It was such a lovely sunny breezy morning this morning when I walked into work, but it's forecast thunder and hail later. Can hardly wait.

The Easter Vac has started. Very quiet in here today but I've got enough work to be getting on with for now. The up side is that we now get quarter of an hour extra for lunch each day - so I'm off to utilize that little perk right now.

Delhi belly

bleurgh.

Have a sensitive tummy this morning. Graham and I went out to Wetherspoons for their cheap curry night and some drinks. It was meant to be enjoyable but somehow we ended up getting on each other's nerves by the end of the night, and then I had a very bad stomach - so all in all wasn't the best night ever! Ah well, these things happen.

I'm having a rest from emigration things today. Think I deserve at least one stress-free day a week.

Hopefully, by the end of today Graham will have booked our hotel in Boscastle - we'll be staying at the Bottreaux Hotel .

Mum and Dad are coming tomorrow. We're going somewhere which is still a surprise for dad so I can't put details here just yet. Then in the evening I'm buying them dinner at Colleys Supper Rooms. By the end of the 7 courses we are going to be absolutely stuffed, and I don't expect we will want to eat anything all day on Sunday, which might be a problem for mum and dad if they are intending to go out for a Mother's Day meal! Been looking forward to this meal since about November, so hope everything is good.

It's the last day of term today so am expecting the library to be busy - but so far it hasn't been and we're both sitting here bored. Might have something to do with the weather - those who have ventured out in the rain and gales are walking around looking very bedraggled. I remember as a student that it was quite easy to stay in bed on days like these, especially in the last week of term with all the parties and club nights to go to.

Might be going indoor skiing over the Easter weekend. I'd like to learn to ski, especially if we're going to end up near a mountain in Canada. But the last time I tried it on a dry ski slope, I fell over and nearly broke my thumb as it got stuck in one of the holes, so I am a little bit apprehensive. Hopefully, though, I'll be better on fake snow as it has no holes in it!

Organising relief

I slept nearly all night!

And before I went to bed I spent 1.5 hours organising our application stuff into little sections with a post-it note on each saying what we still need to collect for that section and things are really coming along. Did loads of photocopying this morning and am feeling quite positive.

Does anyone know a magistrate who will witness a statutory declaration or two for free?
Or a public notary who will notarise a few contracts without charging a complete fortune?

Mum rang last night. Her and dad aren't going to Bali on their way to Oz, as it's a no-go area at the moment and they wouldn't be able to get travel insurance that covered them going there. It's a shame, but they do get to pamper themselves in Singapore twice now.

I have decided on North Cornwall for my birthday weekend away in May. Boscastle to be precise, as it has dramatic coastline and looks quite a romantic sort of little village on a harbour. It is also well placed for trips out to Tintagel, Bude, Polzeath and Padstow. Trying to decide between two places to stay - the trendyish Bottreaux Hotel or the B&B right near the harbour which looks a little more cosy and romantic. Both have well rated restaurants and are close to pubs so we're all right there!

Spring has sprung, dinner's done

Spring is definitely in the air. It was really warm last night walking home - especially as I originally had 2 fleeces on! All the students have started revising for their exams and the sun is out and it's making me a little nostalgic for my student days.

I had an awful night's sleep last night, so the pulse-point oil didn't work it's magic. But I have got lots and lots done on the emigration front so I'm feeling in a good mood. Wrote letters and organised the whole folder last night - it's going to cost a lot in postage when we finally send it off.

Graham cooked kebabs and they were lovely. I think I have cousin Martin to thank for inspiring him. He can now cook 2 dishes - fajitas and kebabs!

I've been trying to plan a holiday over my birthday. Originally intended to go to Salzburg for a long weekend but have recently been thinking of flying to Inverness and touring the highlands for 5 days. Unfortunately I have just found out that I only have 2.5 (+ 45 mins) days of holiday left to take this year (I took 5 days from this year for Oz, 15 for Canada in September) so my plans have been scuppered a bit. I could still go for the intended amount of time if I work up a few hours lieu time, but that would mean I have no leave left for emergencies (like waking up depressed on a dark cold November morning wanting to take a day off the next day to cheer myself up). I'm starting to think of alternatives for a long weekend closer to home.

Progress, love

Wow. It's amazing how being down one day can make the fairly normal day after seem really good!

Seem to have moved a couple of steps forward in the collecting information field. Graham has been in touch with all his past employers now and they are all on the case. This morning as I left I spotted 2 letters in the post for us. I didn't have time to open them, but one was from Graham's old company that was being a bit of a pain as regards the contract - and the envelope looked thicker than just one piece of A4 and a business card so I think out threats of immigration officials phoning them for info scared them into finding Graham's contract. The other letter, I think, I hope, contains the 2 copies of my birth certificate that I have been waiting on for a month now.

Application forms for Subject Access (police clearance) are being sent off today.

Graham was lovely last night and made up for upsetting me on Saturday. He made me a smoothie that I had for breakfast this morning. He is also making dinner tonight so that's a bonus. He was doing a night shift last night so went off to work at 10pm, and I went straight to bed with a few drops of relaxing oil on my pulse points which did the trick for a bit. Slept a bit better than I have done in a while anyway. At 5am I woke up and reached my hands under the pillow for a bit of coolness and found a children's picture book entitled "Guess how much I love you?". Awwww, what a cutie!

Hunting Nemo

I think I would kill for some sushi right now.
A fish that is.

Watch out Nemo, I'm on the prowl.

Hmmm....

That was a weird weekend.
Friday night was nice, but we all fell asleep quite early! They are so excited about the wedding, it's really nice.

On Saturday we went kite flying on the Downs for a bit before Matt and Sharon left. Then Graham upset me so I was angry at him. Just after that his mum rang to tell him that his uncle was very ill again and had been admitted to hospital, so I had to change from angry to sympathetic, and it didn't quite work so we just went to sleep for a couple of hours.

We went out in the evening for a couple of drinks to try and cheer up but Graham felt lousy, so we just got takeaway and went back home. He was sick straight after dinner and went to bed. He still feels lousy now.

I haven't really caught up on my sleep. It didn't help that Sam downstairs started yelling and cheering and hollering at the TV from 5am on Saturday. I'm going to let him off this once, since it is the first test cricket match that India have played against Pakistan in 14 years so he must have been very excited, but if he keeps yelling at that time for the next 4 tests then I shall have to have words with him.

Didn't get anything done re emigration as we were both feeling pants yesterday. We'll have to try and catch up this week.

Ho hum, hopefully the week will get better!

I would like to know why my tastes have completely changed recently. I never fancy curry anymore when I used to be addicted to it (and I still like if I do have it). I seem to want to eat a lot of pasta and tuna and pesto and sandwiches of all things! I've never really been into sandwiches - used to take pizza and quiche and soup etc to school because I was bored of bread. But now I'm really into them for lunch.

It might have something to do with me being a bit more healthy recently. I've been making myself eat smaller portions most of the time, and I've been walking 45 mins to work and sometimes 20 mins back most days. I don't think I've lost much weight but I seem to be getting a little thinner around the face. Apparently.

Friends

It's less than an hour until the weekend begins - hurrah!

I'm very very tired due to the insomniacal nature of my week, but I have invited my friend Matt and his girlfriend Sharon over for dinner, so no rest for the wicked. Three courses of lovely nosh have been planned and half-prepared and lots of alcohol, nibbles and breakfast items have been written on the lovely boyfriend's shopping list so all is set for a good night.

Actually Matt and Sharon are now engaged (Sharon popped the question on Feb 25th because she couldn't wait until the traditional Feb 29th) so I should start getting my head around calling her his fiance. They're doing wedding-plan-related things today before they come round so I think that might be one of the larger topics of conversation tonight.

It's unbelievable but, for the the 7/8 years I've been good friends with Matt (at least 3 of them when we were always in each other's pockets), I've never cooked him a proper meal. I mean, not in the small dinner party sense anyway. Well I hope he and Sharon like it, because I've put a fair bit of effort into making this a good evening. We shall be eating prawn cocktail with smoked salmon, vegetarian moussaka with roasted mediterranean vegetables and halloumi cheese, and tiramisu. We shall be drinking lots of wine (sparkling, white and red) and lots of stella. I shall probably fall asleep at 9.45pm.

Insomnia

Well, I have had a week of annoying insomnia. I wake up at about 3-4am every night and can't get back to sleep because I have so much stuff whirling about inside my head. My mind races like one of those horrible red cars that are going to ruin the sport of Formula 1 again this year.

I've tried not thinking, but that hasn't been successful and I have come to the conclusion that if I'm going to have insomnia I might as well be productive with my thoughts otherwise I'm just tired and grouchy with no positives to balance it.

Milky drinks don't help. Alcohol makes it worse. Sleeping on the sofa has some effect, but I still only manage to doze for a few minutes at a time. I think the only thing that will help is getting our visa application in but that won't happen for a few weeks yet. If it was just the forms to fill in then the job would be easy but we've got so much supporting information still to collect, not to mention the nightmare headache that we've been working off a completely different visa office checklist to seemingly everyone else in our boat.

We're applying under the Skilled Worker category with my boyfriend, Graham, as principal applicant (my job aint skilled enuff gov) and me as his dependent (god I hate that term) common-law partner. At the moment there are not an awful lot of checks on our checklist.

We're still waiting on: letters from our primary schools to prove we have had as much education as we claim; my full birth certificate (which should have arrived by yesterday); letters of reference and contracts from all our previous employers (I've had so many "little" jobs like temping, voluntary and relief work that this proves difficult); police certificates (to be sent off for this weekend, take up to 40 days to arrive); transcripts of Graham's degree...

We've got to write letters 1) detailing our relationship backed up with as much evidence as possible to prove that we have been living together these past 2.5 years; 2) explaining why we should get maximum points for our English language ability since we are not submitting IELTS test results (erm....we were born in England, raised in England, have spoken English all our lives, educated in English, work in English companies....); 3) explaining that Graham's previous employers are complete arses and won't provide him with a contract

And there's so much more, but it just makes me stressed to think about it so I won't carry on. All I can say is that I will be so relieved when the application is finally posted so that I can just relax a bit for the 2 years that it takes the visa office to make a decision! Then it will be onto the even harder part - but we won't think about that till it happens.

Hey!

Is that someone reading this?
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