You Are Apples |
 You have simple tastes in food, and you appreciate a basic, clean flavor. You don't think eating or cooking should be complicated. In fact, you're really not one for cooking much at all. Your best meals come together quickly and don't require many ingredients. If anything, you're the type of person who's more likely to pull out the oven mitts and bake every so often. Chocolate chip cookies are one of your favorite things to smell baking, and it goes without saying that you love apple pie. |
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Oh! My! How Ironic!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
End of a line (sort of)
Right. Where to start? Chronologically?
January
Went to doctor and he changed meds again, which led me to believe I'd be safe going for a run or two, in order to try and shift the weight that he claimed was to blame for my high blood pressure. That turned out to be a huge mistake or a massive blessing* in disguise as the changed meds made me really really really ill, when combined with running a mile a day.
There's a service in the UK called NHS Direct which allows UK residents to phone an out of hours medical service without having to phone emergency services for advice. After feeling odd and out of sorts all day, I went to bed early and immediately felt worse. So bad in fact that I called the hotline. They went through my symptoms and insisted on putting me through to an out of hours doctor at my local clinic as they felt I needed to be seen immediately. Out of hours person at the clinic said there wasn't much they could do for me in terms of running diagnostic tests and that I should go to the nearest hospital. After verifying that I knew which hospital to go to and was capable of getting there myself (as otherwise they would send an ambulance for me) they told me the hospital would be advised I was coming in, wished me well and hung up.
It was at this point that OH realised he'd had a beer with dinner and wasn't entirely fit to drive. So I drove myself. We were seen almost immediately and filtered off to the 'Major Incidents' side of things which was interesting. I managed to have a funny episode in front of the doctor, passing out while she calmly measured my blood pressure, which 'helped'.
As soon as they started running blood tests and getting those results back they were pretty sure that I didn't have what they thought I had, but they would still treat me as such, just in case. So I got lots of shots and pills and tests and monitors in case I really was having a heart attack. Heparin really really hurts when administered subcutaneously into the abdomen.
The more blood tests came back the more they were sure I wasn't having a heart attack, so they also said that I'd in all likelihood be staying in the hospital for a bit, until A) I was stabilised and B) hopefully diagnosed.
So I was in hospital for about 5 days. Local hospital was actually pretty good, and OH was able to come and visit once or twice a day, which was good. Food was OK, place was clean enough, pity about the lack of communication.
February
Back to school, tottering around feeling really bleurgh and sorry for myself. Missed loads of classes. Didn't go on the school trip to Berlin and nothing much was done for those of us that didn't go. Managed to alienate more teachers (what? like it's hard?) and was explicitly told not to sit with a certain other student. Bearing in mind I'm 30something and he's 40something, being told we were disruptive influences was highly amusing and we really didn't take that seriously at all. Although we did dial it down a little.
February was also assessment month. I was offered a 3 week extension to hand everything in due to my health but I chose to try and get everything done (except for one paper) on time as otherwise I was worried things would just snowball and I'd be working on Stage 2 stuff in the middle of Stage 3 and then I'd really be screwed.
So most of February was spent working and catching up and going back to the hospital every now and then for more tests.
March
Come March I was feeling better physically. I'd caught up with everything and was ready to crack on with an ambitious project for the final stage and had sort of decided where to go next. I started seeing a counsellor at school to help me try and deal with my all to easy loathing of teachers in general and my current one in particular and just generally to be more respectful. She turned out to be Norwegian and really understood me and we got on like a house on fire.
Then Friday 13th, several friends celebrated their birthday, I was due to hand all my extra credit stuff in and had a tutorial to get cracking on Stage 3. That day bombed, to say the least. I didn't know whether to bother quitting school or whether I could just stay in bed and the whole thing would sort itself out.
Then Saturday the 14th. I called my gran, at her new care home. She was poorly and tired and I didn't want to keep her away from her nap for too long so I talked to her for a few minutes and then told her to go take her nap and said my goodbyes. And then she died a few hours later.
The following week was surreal. I had an MRI on the Monday and some dear friends came to stay that afternoon. Thanks to them we kept busy and although I wasn't jumping for joy, we muddled through. The services for my gran had been planned pretty quickly and we were to fly to Iceland on the Wednesday night.
Thursday she was laid to rest and the casket was closed.
Friday I and 7 of my cousins carried the casket out of the church and said our goodbyes. The hardest thing I've ever done.
April
I was again offered an extension on work as I'd missed more school - but again I chose not to accept it. I muddled through, coming up with something for the final show that had dramatically changed in terms of the approach. Easter came and went and all of a sudden school was finished. I had an interview for the degree program I wanted to get into which went really well and I was offered an unconditional place on it in the interview itself. Of course when the letter arrived my university had downgraded that to a conditional offer, dependent on my completion of the diploma, due to some stupid bureaucracy.
With my new-found Zen ways, I didn't kick up a fuss, just put it behind me and carried on working.
May
We had our show. Nobody came that I had invited, many good excuses.
*I got my confirmed diagnosis and went to see a specialist in London. This is why the prescribed meds in January were a blessing as otherwise it might have been years before I was actually diagnosed.
It finally dawned on me that I would get an actual diploma for this year and would thus finally have progressed beyond the Studentsprof, like I'd always wanted.
I accepted my conditional place at university for next year. I will be studying Product Design at the University for the Creative Arts, Farnham Campus, for the next 3 years. At least.
Friday this week I should get my results, ending one of the hardest school years of my life, which if you know me, is actually saying something. Quite a lot in fact.
Future
Well. This summer I will be having a holiday. Having my parents visit. Having surgery. Arranged in order of most to least projected quantity of fun.
January
Went to doctor and he changed meds again, which led me to believe I'd be safe going for a run or two, in order to try and shift the weight that he claimed was to blame for my high blood pressure. That turned out to be a huge mistake or a massive blessing* in disguise as the changed meds made me really really really ill, when combined with running a mile a day.
There's a service in the UK called NHS Direct which allows UK residents to phone an out of hours medical service without having to phone emergency services for advice. After feeling odd and out of sorts all day, I went to bed early and immediately felt worse. So bad in fact that I called the hotline. They went through my symptoms and insisted on putting me through to an out of hours doctor at my local clinic as they felt I needed to be seen immediately. Out of hours person at the clinic said there wasn't much they could do for me in terms of running diagnostic tests and that I should go to the nearest hospital. After verifying that I knew which hospital to go to and was capable of getting there myself (as otherwise they would send an ambulance for me) they told me the hospital would be advised I was coming in, wished me well and hung up.
It was at this point that OH realised he'd had a beer with dinner and wasn't entirely fit to drive. So I drove myself. We were seen almost immediately and filtered off to the 'Major Incidents' side of things which was interesting. I managed to have a funny episode in front of the doctor, passing out while she calmly measured my blood pressure, which 'helped'.
As soon as they started running blood tests and getting those results back they were pretty sure that I didn't have what they thought I had, but they would still treat me as such, just in case. So I got lots of shots and pills and tests and monitors in case I really was having a heart attack. Heparin really really hurts when administered subcutaneously into the abdomen.
The more blood tests came back the more they were sure I wasn't having a heart attack, so they also said that I'd in all likelihood be staying in the hospital for a bit, until A) I was stabilised and B) hopefully diagnosed.
So I was in hospital for about 5 days. Local hospital was actually pretty good, and OH was able to come and visit once or twice a day, which was good. Food was OK, place was clean enough, pity about the lack of communication.
February
Back to school, tottering around feeling really bleurgh and sorry for myself. Missed loads of classes. Didn't go on the school trip to Berlin and nothing much was done for those of us that didn't go. Managed to alienate more teachers (what? like it's hard?) and was explicitly told not to sit with a certain other student. Bearing in mind I'm 30something and he's 40something, being told we were disruptive influences was highly amusing and we really didn't take that seriously at all. Although we did dial it down a little.
February was also assessment month. I was offered a 3 week extension to hand everything in due to my health but I chose to try and get everything done (except for one paper) on time as otherwise I was worried things would just snowball and I'd be working on Stage 2 stuff in the middle of Stage 3 and then I'd really be screwed.
So most of February was spent working and catching up and going back to the hospital every now and then for more tests.
March
Come March I was feeling better physically. I'd caught up with everything and was ready to crack on with an ambitious project for the final stage and had sort of decided where to go next. I started seeing a counsellor at school to help me try and deal with my all to easy loathing of teachers in general and my current one in particular and just generally to be more respectful. She turned out to be Norwegian and really understood me and we got on like a house on fire.
Then Friday 13th, several friends celebrated their birthday, I was due to hand all my extra credit stuff in and had a tutorial to get cracking on Stage 3. That day bombed, to say the least. I didn't know whether to bother quitting school or whether I could just stay in bed and the whole thing would sort itself out.
Then Saturday the 14th. I called my gran, at her new care home. She was poorly and tired and I didn't want to keep her away from her nap for too long so I talked to her for a few minutes and then told her to go take her nap and said my goodbyes. And then she died a few hours later.
The following week was surreal. I had an MRI on the Monday and some dear friends came to stay that afternoon. Thanks to them we kept busy and although I wasn't jumping for joy, we muddled through. The services for my gran had been planned pretty quickly and we were to fly to Iceland on the Wednesday night.
Thursday she was laid to rest and the casket was closed.
Friday I and 7 of my cousins carried the casket out of the church and said our goodbyes. The hardest thing I've ever done.
April
I was again offered an extension on work as I'd missed more school - but again I chose not to accept it. I muddled through, coming up with something for the final show that had dramatically changed in terms of the approach. Easter came and went and all of a sudden school was finished. I had an interview for the degree program I wanted to get into which went really well and I was offered an unconditional place on it in the interview itself. Of course when the letter arrived my university had downgraded that to a conditional offer, dependent on my completion of the diploma, due to some stupid bureaucracy.
With my new-found Zen ways, I didn't kick up a fuss, just put it behind me and carried on working.
May
We had our show. Nobody came that I had invited, many good excuses.
*I got my confirmed diagnosis and went to see a specialist in London. This is why the prescribed meds in January were a blessing as otherwise it might have been years before I was actually diagnosed.
It finally dawned on me that I would get an actual diploma for this year and would thus finally have progressed beyond the Studentsprof, like I'd always wanted.
I accepted my conditional place at university for next year. I will be studying Product Design at the University for the Creative Arts, Farnham Campus, for the next 3 years. At least.
Friday this week I should get my results, ending one of the hardest school years of my life, which if you know me, is actually saying something. Quite a lot in fact.
Future
Well. This summer I will be having a holiday. Having my parents visit. Having surgery. Arranged in order of most to least projected quantity of fun.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The now traditional January post
Hmm.
I didn't realise I hadn't blogged since November. This isn't good as I'm supposed to be some sort of IT / Web wunderkind, if you listen to my fellow students. (I was going to say peers, but then wasn't sure. Surely I am peerless?)
Since November I have had my assessment - passed with flying colours, more flying than I ever thought. Which obviously made me very happy. However, since then I've really rather stuttered in terms of knowing what I'm doing and all that jazz.
We had a very nice Christmas, for the first time in our own house where I made magic turkey and all the trimmings required in two countries, coming up with a meal that served 4 for 3 days. It was a lot of food: I made turkey, gravy, bread sauce, cream of mushroom sauce, roast potatoes, glazed potatoes, proper stuffing (i.e. not OXO) roast parsnips, boiled carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, two different kinds of ice cream and hot chocolate sauce. Nobody got sick and nobody threw up from over-indulging either. So this may well turn into a tradition.
Then for NYE we went to the motherland, where the mother was suitably frustrating to deal with.
However, I also spent several hours with my gran, which was a hugely unexpected blessing as I had said my final goodbyes (I thought) in October.
NYE itself was fabulous, as usual. Although there was lots of food I couldn't eat much of it due to apples being omnipresent, but I did try some BBQ'd / grilled turkey, which was very very nice. Then I did the usual and stayed sober and drove people home, which has turned into something of a tradition.
I took lots of pictures on the night, but the light didn't lend itself to photography for the rest of it. We did go to two museums and saw this one really cool piece in Grofarhus, although the paintings as usual don't really speak to me unless as abstract as hell. Abstract expressionism and me - what a pair.
I didn't realise I hadn't blogged since November. This isn't good as I'm supposed to be some sort of IT / Web wunderkind, if you listen to my fellow students. (I was going to say peers, but then wasn't sure. Surely I am peerless?)
Since November I have had my assessment - passed with flying colours, more flying than I ever thought. Which obviously made me very happy. However, since then I've really rather stuttered in terms of knowing what I'm doing and all that jazz.
We had a very nice Christmas, for the first time in our own house where I made magic turkey and all the trimmings required in two countries, coming up with a meal that served 4 for 3 days. It was a lot of food: I made turkey, gravy, bread sauce, cream of mushroom sauce, roast potatoes, glazed potatoes, proper stuffing (i.e. not OXO) roast parsnips, boiled carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, two different kinds of ice cream and hot chocolate sauce. Nobody got sick and nobody threw up from over-indulging either. So this may well turn into a tradition.
Then for NYE we went to the motherland, where the mother was suitably frustrating to deal with.
However, I also spent several hours with my gran, which was a hugely unexpected blessing as I had said my final goodbyes (I thought) in October.
NYE itself was fabulous, as usual. Although there was lots of food I couldn't eat much of it due to apples being omnipresent, but I did try some BBQ'd / grilled turkey, which was very very nice. Then I did the usual and stayed sober and drove people home, which has turned into something of a tradition.
I took lots of pictures on the night, but the light didn't lend itself to photography for the rest of it. We did go to two museums and saw this one really cool piece in Grofarhus, although the paintings as usual don't really speak to me unless as abstract as hell. Abstract expressionism and me - what a pair.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
School is ON
Right. So school started in September and since then I've been kind of busy.
Assessments are coming up and I've decided to not worry about the perennial diet until afterwards - otherwise the whole thing is just too much pressure all in one.
It's good fun though and I've met some very nice people and made a great friend. I've done open day tours, discovered UCAS and generally faffed about with regards to what to do next. I think it might be quite nice though to have a nice, proper University diploma, with lots of fancy words and the abbreviation BA on there somewhere.
We now have a new fence, very nice; new driveway, very nice; and an electrically safe kitchen, even nicer.
We have not had a holiday this year which is a bit of a bummer considering the weather, but continue to make grandiose plans for next year to make up for this.
We are planning on hosting christmas dinners at our house, for the first time. Maybe not such a good idea to be practicing on the mother in law for my first ever turkey, but I figure if she wanted it to be edible, she'd make it herself.
I went to London and saw lots of interesting art shows, we went to a music gig where we were invited to the after party, but sadly had to leave to catch our train before the thing kicked off properly, and have been to several comedy gigs around the area.
Dinners with friends, quick scoot to Iceland and general angst, sturm und drang, and otherwise bitchiness from me on some days and then on other days we're cool and groovy and the life of the party. Eh, what stress can do to you. That's my new excuse for everything and it's going down well so far.
Other Half is still being divine. After seven years as a couple and three years married (so 10 total :-) I find that very impressive and reassuring. He even tells me that all things considered, knowing what he knows now, he'd marry me again. All together now: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Assessments are coming up and I've decided to not worry about the perennial diet until afterwards - otherwise the whole thing is just too much pressure all in one.
It's good fun though and I've met some very nice people and made a great friend. I've done open day tours, discovered UCAS and generally faffed about with regards to what to do next. I think it might be quite nice though to have a nice, proper University diploma, with lots of fancy words and the abbreviation BA on there somewhere.
We now have a new fence, very nice; new driveway, very nice; and an electrically safe kitchen, even nicer.
We have not had a holiday this year which is a bit of a bummer considering the weather, but continue to make grandiose plans for next year to make up for this.
We are planning on hosting christmas dinners at our house, for the first time. Maybe not such a good idea to be practicing on the mother in law for my first ever turkey, but I figure if she wanted it to be edible, she'd make it herself.
I went to London and saw lots of interesting art shows, we went to a music gig where we were invited to the after party, but sadly had to leave to catch our train before the thing kicked off properly, and have been to several comedy gigs around the area.
Dinners with friends, quick scoot to Iceland and general angst, sturm und drang, and otherwise bitchiness from me on some days and then on other days we're cool and groovy and the life of the party. Eh, what stress can do to you. That's my new excuse for everything and it's going down well so far.
Other Half is still being divine. After seven years as a couple and three years married (so 10 total :-) I find that very impressive and reassuring. He even tells me that all things considered, knowing what he knows now, he'd marry me again. All together now: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
What I did on my Holidays
OK. So this is what we've been up to:
I had my first induction days at college, which were very scary but great fun.
I did some more work in Guildford for the same company I worked for in June as they are so nice and keep hiring me.
I gardened but not enough.
We went on a one day road trip down to Poole and Swanage, which was very nice. There we saw our dream house in a dream location - unfortunately it is slightly (not so as you'd notice) out of our price range as it's £3 950 000. That's four MILLION poundarooneys.
We went to London to see some exhibits for my first school assignment, which I'm currently writing.
I painted the kitchen (overtly olive by dulux) although I am yet to paint the coving and the ceiling white.
We had my baby sister come visit with a friend.
- we took teenagers shopping
- we took teenagers to London, on the Millennium Eye, walking round & shopping
- we took teenagers out for lunch & shopping
- we took teenagers to Thorpe Park (thank bod, no more shopping!)
We went to a friends wedding and had a nice little catch up with friends in the usual sort of weddingy way, meeting people you haven't met since the last wedding.
We hired a landscaper who start work in a week.
We hired an electrician who starts work Monday.
We hired a fencing company (not en garde, it's enclosed garden - spot the difference) which will need to start work in September.
And today we celebrated our third wedding anniversary.
All good stuff. The more time I spend with Other Half, the more I realise just how cool and amazing he actually is, which is nice.
I had my first induction days at college, which were very scary but great fun.
I did some more work in Guildford for the same company I worked for in June as they are so nice and keep hiring me.
I gardened but not enough.
We went on a one day road trip down to Poole and Swanage, which was very nice. There we saw our dream house in a dream location - unfortunately it is slightly (not so as you'd notice) out of our price range as it's £3 950 000. That's four MILLION poundarooneys.
We went to London to see some exhibits for my first school assignment, which I'm currently writing.
I painted the kitchen (overtly olive by dulux) although I am yet to paint the coving and the ceiling white.
We had my baby sister come visit with a friend.
- we took teenagers shopping
- we took teenagers to London, on the Millennium Eye, walking round & shopping
- we took teenagers out for lunch & shopping
- we took teenagers to Thorpe Park (thank bod, no more shopping!)
We went to a friends wedding and had a nice little catch up with friends in the usual sort of weddingy way, meeting people you haven't met since the last wedding.
We hired a landscaper who start work in a week.
We hired an electrician who starts work Monday.
We hired a fencing company (not en garde, it's enclosed garden - spot the difference) which will need to start work in September.
And today we celebrated our third wedding anniversary.
All good stuff. The more time I spend with Other Half, the more I realise just how cool and amazing he actually is, which is nice.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Some activity
Well. We went to London and saw Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, which was good. We've seen them before though, and I certainly preferred that set list to this one. But they were suitably loud and noisy and it was a night out and it was great.
I went for a meal out in Windsor, which appears to be a lovely town, pity about the company I kept that night. Meal was good though.
We went to an open night in my new school to be, which was excellent. Some really fantastic pieces and great thought put into the works and their presentation.
We got ambushed at the door by one of the tutors who sussed immediately that I'd signed up. They were all really nice and so enthusiastic - it gave me lots of energy and positivity and reduced some of my fears.
We've done loads of gardening and you can just about see the shape of how it will look. It's not done yet, but I'll get there, maybe even this week, if the weather is good.
And then I'm going to paint the house on the outside. Unemployment, temporary as it may be, may have its uses.
I went for a meal out in Windsor, which appears to be a lovely town, pity about the company I kept that night. Meal was good though.
We went to an open night in my new school to be, which was excellent. Some really fantastic pieces and great thought put into the works and their presentation.
We got ambushed at the door by one of the tutors who sussed immediately that I'd signed up. They were all really nice and so enthusiastic - it gave me lots of energy and positivity and reduced some of my fears.
We've done loads of gardening and you can just about see the shape of how it will look. It's not done yet, but I'll get there, maybe even this week, if the weather is good.
And then I'm going to paint the house on the outside. Unemployment, temporary as it may be, may have its uses.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
