calypte

Ah, weekend – bliss! :)

Equally pleased to report another contented little bunny here, and am determined to do my utmost to stay that way!

• some e-Comm typing
• back up computer files
• FIX THE BLODDY TROJAN! ARGH!!!!! : ... probably not, but started trying!
• pamper myself as much as poss getting ready for the day : mmm, long hot shower and new body butter!
• some NetApps
• laundry
• find out when MOT due
• card making session :)
• prepare stirfry
• cinema : has lost its appeal – maybe tomorrow. Use time for reading and snuggling up on sofa instead – hurrah!
• defrost pork
• put the bedspread back on the bed, ‘cos it’s ruddy freezing!
• earlish night, and earlyish start tomorrow – see if I can’t improve my sleep patterns that way : not to mention the fact that I’m wiped and feel like I’m coming down with something :(

Now just to be a bit more frequent about it!!

I’ve survived my first ‘week’ (all three days of it!) in my new job – wayhey! This afternoon my new boss (way!) was asking me how things were going so far. Well, first week as expected: lots of info, lots of reading, lots of being a bit bored ;) Ah, it’s the same anywhere new, right? Thing is – I know it’s just a phase. Gimme a couple of months and I’ll be looking back longingly ;)

Bigger picture, though, and I am so happy with this move! This morning I was telling a former teammate about one of my briefing sessions – “Yuk!” she grimaced, on hearing the topic. Noooo! ‘Tis brill: formulae and numbers and proper data. It made so much sense to my stats/finance/risk type background – love it!

Ah, long may the enthusiasm continue! :)

Hope you’re off in real life having a fabulous birthday and life! :)

Knowing that going back to work after a nice relaxing hol is knackering, I decided that my evenings this week would be nice and lazy. No cooking, even!

And yup – I need it! Have been ready for sleep since 7pm, definitely! Thank goodness I can just crash out :)

And then a funny thing happened. I made the soup I’ve been meaning to for days – well, I’m not cooking, I can do it while the pasta’s boiling, and that’ll be a nice healthy lunch for tomorrow. Then, since the kettle was boiled for the stock anyway, I might as well use the ‘spare’ water to do the dishes – there’s only about 6 things, might as well.

THEN… well, look – I’ve got 90% of this review written, five minutes waffling about essential oils and it’ll be done. It’s a good evening to post it, then I can do the photo show one at the weekend…

My gawd, that’s more productive than I usually manage! Okay, no studying (brain overload from work anyway!) and I totally can’t face the ironing now, but – yay!

So my thinking is thus: over the holidays I admittedly got a darn sight less done that I would have liked, but was happier than I’ve felt in ages. There does need to be balance, but really: life is there to be ENJOYED! Frantically rushing through getting things done, but feeling tired and drained and a bit miserable isn’t living. To hell with the ironing, if watching crappy tv will make me happier!

Do I have a point? Is there a way to stop piling the ‘must dos’ on myself, and still get enough done – just more happily?!

I’m certainly up for the experiment!

As detailed here

The odd/good thing was how comfortable it felt: once upon a time, I would have been SO self conscious at sitting in a coffee shop by myself. Proof, perhaps, that all this differentness is indeed making a difference :)

I don’t know why, but I’ve never gone and sat in a coffee shop and read – although I’ve seen other people do it and thought, “Mmm”. Largely I think it was not knowing if you took your own books (what if they thought it was their book?!), or were expected to buy them there (if it was, say, Waterstones with a Starbucks inside), or – freakily – you were allowed to pick up a book and read without buying (gawd, I wish libraries served coffee. I’d be there a LOT!). Actually, just going into coffee shops is a bit of a ‘treat’ in my mind (cost!), as it something I generally only do with friends – I mean, if you’re not reading, what would you do by yourself?!

So today – last day of holidays! – I finally made good on an ‘idea’: to take my study books (obviously not belonging to shop. Even less so as I wasn’t in a book store!) and catch up on a bit of reading whilst treating myself to a latte (and cake!) AND just being out of the house. JavaScript; pause and people watch; bit of databases…!

Of course, the reality was a darn site noisier than I’d allowed for (!) but I did manage one chapter, one coffee, and one slice of cake. Not bad :)

edit
One of these days, when my exams are over and I can devote myself to other dreams again, I’d like to sit and write in a coffee shop, too :)

Inspired by this from Vex.

Tomorrow I start a new job, and I am looking forward to it – just seems like SUCH a better fit than anything I’ve done in my career so far. It seems like a perfect opportunity to start being just generally more positive: a can-do attitude, less cynicism, giving positive responses to those small-talk questions “how are you?”, “how’s life?”, etc.

Thing is, it makes me so much happier when I act like this. It doesn’t come naturally, at least not often, but I can try. For instance, looking back at the posts I made yesterday makes me smile madly – I was in SUCH a happy, positive mood – and shouting about that made me feel great!

Here’s to the brighter side of life!

Last one (I think)! And now this is done, definitely time to think about a ‘schedule’ for trying new things :)

• Vanilla apple sponge oh dear, am I in THAT kind of a mood?!
• Oven-baked red pepper risotto
• Better-than-baked beans with spicy wedges
• One-pot chicken pilaf
• Five-a-day tagine
• Yellow pepper rice
• Creamy cheese and tomato macaroni
• Tomato and crispy crumb chicken
• Garlic and shallot spinach

... which definitely goes to show (1) I prefer hearty autumn/winter cooking, and (2) I am sooo in a comfort food frame of mind today!

Features: ‘Make more of eggs’; making your own bread; which oil?; cooking with grapes

In Season: pumpkin and squash, obviously!, brussel sprouts, celeriac, sweetcorn; apples, pears, plums, blackberries.

Ah, the last day of what turned into a lovely little holiday – AND it’s goloriously sunny! Really should make the effort to think of a reason to go out… ;)

• HAVE FUN! Whoot!
• Remember to set the alarm clock for tomorrow morning (argh!)
• Definitely fancying a bath!
• FACEMASK!! : urm… straight in the bin, mouldy. Oops!

Oh, there’s a whole huge list of ‘could do’ – but I’m determined to meander through the day as best pleases me :)

• The extra couple of days holiday!
• The will to crack on with the website ‘draft’, getting it finished, and the amazing buzz from it all :)
• The high carrying me through another couple of chores, too
• The feeling that I can now accomplish the next project I set my mind to, and the one after that, and… EVERYTHING I really want to do with my life!
• Lazy dinners: slurpy pasta :P
• More cheers to give away than I knew what to do with!
• Wanting to study
• My Lush list – it felt like a silly waste of time, but looking at all the colours (and planning my next spending spree!) makes me happy :)
• That such little things are a source of smiles
• Knowing I have tomorrow off, too – and nothing major planned, unless I fancy it!
• The feeling that the meaning of life should be to enjoy it :)

I’ve spent most of yesterday evening and a good part of today mocking up a website prototype, ready for feedback. Okay, so I faffed about a fair bit in between that, but felt quite driven (a) because I’d said I would do it this weekend, (b) I had no idea if/when blokey would show up to start critiquing (although as I haven’t heard from him, I’m guessing it won’t be tomorrow either now!), and (c ) having started finally I just wanted to push on to a semi-finish (of the first ‘draft’, at least).

And you know what? It was FAB to actually get it done – after MONTHS of procrastination, through mega-fears that it just wasn’t good enough to be worth the time, and a general lukewarm motivation from ‘client’. But WHOOT! there it is: draft the first, crappy as it may be, something to start working on further.

AND I LOVED IT! Coding by hand might be daft, but it’s what I’m used to. And all those programming skills suddenly not used theoretically, but for something real and tangible and probably public at some point! Something for me to build on – gawd, I would love to get good at this! :)

Further, I was in such a high at finally scoring at least stage one off of a VERY long-term list, that I promptly did about three other chores in 20 minutes – whoosh! SO much better to just DO than to have things festering on the backburner driving you slowly nutty.

Now all I need is some good feedback, and maybe some pointers to learning new skillz :)

Oh – and to TAKE OVER THE WORLD! Mwahaha :)
_{wow isn’t it brill that doing something some 10 year olds could do in their sleep leaves you feeling such a high?! :)}

Based on one of Sainsbury’s ‘Feed your family for a fiver’ (there’s only me; that’s not a good deal!) leaflets, with a few adaptions based on what I had to hand!

For 4:
4 pieces chicken – I used breast, recipe called for legs
Half an onion, or a couple of shallots (my addition)
2-3 peppers
Jar of tomato pasta sauce (eg tomato and chilli)
1 teaspoon chilli powder, or to taste (depends on sauce!)
250g green beans
450ml chicken stock

1. Soften the onion in a little oil; add the chilli if using.
2. Bung in the chicken, peppers, tomato sauce and stock; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add the green beans and simmer for a further 5 or so minutes with the lid off.

Suggested serving: Sainsbo sez roast potatoes, I say rice!

Was pretty quick – more so if I’d used the suggested frozen sliced pepper and frozen beans. Whatever next?! Have tasted similar before, but still worth a mention.

Re pasta sauce: s’not something I often buy, and quite frankly it was with surprise that I found a large jar of Bertolli Red Wine and Shallot sauce in my cupboard – when on earth did I get that!? In fact, it was the impending BBE date that inspired this recipe. Otherwise, I’d be happy enough using tinned tomatoes and a few other bits’n’bobs that I’d usually bung into a homemade sauce, eg wine, herbs, pepper, garlic, etc.

I am incredibly proud to be an independent woman, with a mind and career of my own, and absolutely no desire to be “respectful, humble and kind” to the astounding fuckwit who could post such tripe about what consitutes a perfect little wifey.

Irony is – too-large breasts aside (LOL!) – I’m 90% matching this bloke’s ideal woman. With one major flaw: a brain and my own identity!! Which makes me, by his definition, a ‘rebellious witch whore’.

Rah for rebellious witch whores! Rather that ANY day over the meek fluffhead that thinks ‘obedience’ is an appropriate demand in the 21st Century!

I’m very VERY happy to have about 90% of a prototype built – hurrah! Of course, then kick in all my fears about it being crap, people laughing – not so much at me (I can accept my limitations as a beginner) but at the bloke who’s business the site is supposed to be for. What if he’s too polite/unknowledgable to say it’s a bit shit, and then someone mocks his whole business ‘cos of my crappy interface?!

Ack. See what my psyche does to me!?

Fears aside, at least now I have something concrete to work on. I’m still learning. I still need feedback before I can start refining.

However, I have to note just how excited I am by all this. I’ve taken a metaphorical sheet of blank paper, and have a near-working product! How brilliant does that feel – and what a useful skill, if I just work on refining it!

And I will. Half cursing the degree for getting in the way, then thanking it for all the useful bits!

Just remember: A -> B -> C, etc. I’m far too keen to jump straight in at ‘M’ – but I need to calm myself to work through the steps.

Wow, August went fast! Quick summary against plan:

• G1: not so very much, but I started enjoying it again. Still, I can hear that ‘tick tick’ starting!
• G2: survive notice period – done! :)
• G3: try for some daily, gentle incorporation – this went well. It was lovely not feeling I ‘should’ be going to the gym (so I didn’t!) but I probably got more exercise (some weeks) just from walking about more. Walking is about my pace right now!
• G4: stay within SP targets – err, mostly not! Still, last time I weighed myself I’d lost another lb, and I think the small loss through near-zero effort is a good thing!
• G5: not so much. A couple of reviews, and very little card work. Hmm.

Mostly August was the exhaustion of finishing up at work; more nights out than I’m used to; and two pretty lazy weeks of holiday. Which all means that I didn’t make quite the progress on my goals that I felt I wanted to, but on the other hand I do feel like I’ve lived the month – there’s such a balance to be found there!

So on to September – my birth month, so all sorts of fresh starts, really. Being in Scotland I don’t have that new school term thing (that was a couple of weeks back here), but new month, counting down to a new age and new decade (!), new job.

As ever, the plan is to try for that balance: keep working on the things that are meaningful to me, but also finding plenty of time to enjoy life rather than constantly seeing time as something that should be used for improvements, y’know?

Anyway, to be more specific:

G1 – Studying
Doesn’t look like I’m going to be finished with the library books before they’re due back, but I can try! Also need to sort out some real-life support now that the term is starting – go to tutorials, perhaps?

G1.5 – Website
These last few days have seen my first real push of the build phase. Perhaps slotting in a few solid days for this – whenever I get feedback! – is the way to go?

G2 – Work
Newness! Really looking forward to, while at the same time not entirely sure what I’m getting myself into! It will be very strange being new and not-new at the same time. Still, I shall try my best!

G3 – Fitness
I think, as long as the weather holds, I shall stick to the at-home and walking efforts, and leave the gym ‘til I have to – and hopefully by then I can be a bit more organised with my time?

G4 – Healthfullness!
SP targets! Keep trying – I think I’m doing okay, if not brilliantly. Small improvements all round, please. Also worth remember the wider aspect of this goal: eat well, sleep well, etc.

G5 – Creativity
Again, just enjoy – yes I want to post more reviews and make more cards, but I also want it to be fun – and thus a good balance to everything else.

G6 – Motivation
I have a goal to examine this, now, but I think largely it boils down to tiredness: so, get plenty of rest, and remember that it’s okay to be too tired to be up to much – I can still use that time ‘productively’ by being more purposeful in my relaxation.

G7 – Time Management
Always one that needs work! I genuinely want to do EVERYTHING right now, so obviously getting this sorted would be hugely helpful. Things like study reading at lunchtime, working before messing about, etc. Will be interesting to see if the new job influences anything.

G8 – Newness
I’ve written a couple of times over my holiday how fabulous I feel in those moments I’ve moved just slightly out of my comfort zone: remember that! Plans for September include trying the studying-in-coffee-shop that’s appealed to me so much recently; some new recipes; new movies; lots of new Lush stuff! Oh and of course – NEW JOB!!

G9 – Play House
I’m trying to convince myself I like housework – it’s productive, a break from all my more mental activities, and… hmm. Yeah!

G10 – And Relax!
As said above, want to be more proactive and focused with this. Mostly that boils down to switching the pc off more! Ie: either be online OR watch TV; switch everything off earlier and have some proper down-time before bed; etc.

Phew, not much, then! Also don’t want to forget the remain half of my Five Week Project – actually, I think it’s really a way to manage all of the above AND doing that ‘remembering to enjoy life’ :)

Helloooo September! Let’s start as we mean to go on…!

• remove nested table from homepage; try positioning : looks okay just now, will do for further drafts
• source 12x sample pics; full size/thumbnails : getting ahead of myself – hurrah!
• build a top-level portfolio page
• build sample gallery page with enlargements/clickthrus
• FAQ page outline
• Contact us page outline : Whoot! Draft 1 is DONE!

• dishes
• empty bin
• ironing?
• charity bag – full or not, leave downstairs : FINALLY! I’ve only been saying I’ll do this for YEARS!
• scan pc – see if anything’s causing the sluggishness : nothing found, but halfway through the whole beast kicked back to life proper. Weird
• start backing up pc – think it needs wiped and reset :(

• study
• look at cards
• use the bloomin’ face mask!

• get up a bit earlier
• find out if web visit is today/tomorrow
• re-post In Bruge review
• start next review – book and/or art show
• go into town with study books, for coffee
• bath and/or watch something
• early night

Well, I’ve started building it – and no, the tables-for-layout aren’t going exactly as planned (why does rowspan suddenly make the nested table ignore my /trs?! Hmm? Hmm?!)

But I’m keeping it tres simple: links down the side, title at top, and then the rest of the space for content. Thumbnail galleries, mostly :) Home -> Porfolio -> Galleries.

That’s the design bit done, anyway!

Bye bye August – eeep!

That said, today is going to be a good day – I’ve decided! The weather is bleak, but I have no outdoor plans; my neighbour started screaming at her little boy (couldn’t hear him, just her shouting!) at 7am – but I wanted to get up earlier anyway; and I’m up and dressed and want to do all these things with my day!

• Website! : okay, so nowhere near as easy as I’d hoped! Sure I’m doing something dozy, but I’m giving up for tonight and I’ll see how much I can pick up in the morning – obviously, should have started earlier anyway!

• laundry
• dishes
• ironing? (I knew it’d catch up with me eventually!)
• cut up melon
• arm exercises – c’mon, finish week 1! : yay! 2 weeks to go!
• do my MLD : the downside of the arm exercises!
• cook dinner

• finish/post VF review
• study
• face mask
• watch something

Perfectly in season!

• Mediterranean slices
• Spicy pizza breads
• Chicken tikka tortillas more lunch ideas!
• Roasted pepper soup
• Pesto kebabs with roast veg pasta

Features: storing leftovers; fresh from the freezer; cheap eats; secrets of cooking risotto; grow your own rocket; eat to boost your brain power

In season: early potatoes, artichoke, pumpkin and squash, sweetcorn; apples, plums, pears