Getting the woe out

Bad news - I didn't get accepted to the MPA program with the UofR Grad school.  I found out 2-ish Monday's ago and I was pretty devistated to say the least.  It felt like my whole life might change course just because of this one decision that wasn't even mine.  I was so excited to go back to school.  I can still try again, but it won't be the perfect time like this was.  It also really sucks being rejected.  I checked back like 10 times just in case it wasn't true... sigh

ALSO I just checked and my flights home in August (which I have already purchased) are on sale for 200 pounds cheaper than what I paid for them.  That is about $300!!!!  NOT COOL! :(

Anyways that is all the bad stuff in my life, I think I am doing pretty good otherwise.  Keeping on carrying on. :)

Warm Weather Easter

We had a four day weekend for Easter and the weather was AMAZING! 

Friday            26 degrees C
Saturday        27
Sunday          26
Monday         23

And the best past, everyday SUNNY!  My tan right now is at summer level goodness.  :)

On Friday we went to Leeds Castle.  Mark's mom drove (which was very nice of her).  There was some kind of Easter treasure hunt going on as I have never seen some many families with young children!  It felt odd not having a child in tow! We brought a picinc and enjoyed in on the beautiful lawns.

On Sunday Mark and I took a passenger boat from Westminster to Hampton Court to visit Hampton Cout Palace, which was built during Henry VIII's reign.  Beautiful gardens there as well.

School!

I am pretty excited!! I think I have decided to go back to school.   Master Public Administration at the U of R.  I researching last week and I saw it and I just had this moment of clarity (which I never get when I am thinking about school) and everything felt like it was falling into place.

I am really happy.  Now I just need to apply and be accepted!!  HOPEFULLY!

January 2012 here I come!!

Woot

I just wanted to chronicle that today I ran 8.5km on the treadmill.  That is 1 hour, straight, of jogging.  WOOT to me.  That is 3 km more the longest I have ever ran before!

My Birthday

And what a lovely day it was!  My co-workers decorated my desk and got me prezzies. Di sent me flowers, Matt bought me a yummy cake, Mark and I went out for Thai food and then went to Dolorean in concert.  And afterward I even went and chatted briefly to the lead singer, Al, and got my picture taken with him!

The Library

I have worked at my current office building for 2 years and 21 days. Every morning on my way to work I walk by the Shoe Lane Library and think, “I should go take a look in there at lunch”. And I never have. Well today I finally went in. I had forgotten about how useful a Library can be. In these days of the internet, libraries have slipped off the radar for a lot of people. But I hope they flock back. I always have this unsettled feeling when working on the computer, most specifically my laptop; a feeling like I can’t see the full picture, like something is missing. (It is probably a table!!). Anyways I am heading back to the library, getting a card and taking out some books. I would like to get back to learning without looking at a screen!

Slush Mug!

Jen very thoughtfully sent Mark and I a box of Christmas gifts.  She was on the ball and sent it around 4 December 2010,  But it didn't arrive at my house until 27 January 2011!!   I blame Britian! :)

The coolest thing (heehee) in the box were the 'slush mugs' which can turn pretty much any drink into a slush, due to the glacial core.  You freeze the core (the white part) in the freezer for 6 hours and then it magically makes the drinks go slushy when they are poured in.   Best invention ever!!

Don't set your hair on fire!

Last night, Friday evening, I had my birthday drinks at a pub by Liverpool Street Station, the Water Poet.  It was very nice and was a good turn out. 

Chris gave me a cake, photo below.

The "Kim Sucks" cake was very thoughtful. Because on Chris's birthday I baked him this:

Mark had me write that on the top with marshmellows.  Chris loves my cakes and says they are the best ones he has ever had, so I am happy to make them for someone who appreciates them so much!!

Last night I also got a birthday card that had a secret, good luck, scratch message on the front, so I was leaning over the table scratching away, and my hair is getting longer (and I straightened it for the occation) and there was a fancy tea-light on the table.  Need I say more?

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Yes - I LIT MY HAIR ON FIRE!!!

While leaning over I suddenly heard a sizzeling in my ear, I instintively moved back, and it's a good thing because by then there was smoke and the whole room smelt like burning hair.  It is a good thing I don't use hair spray or my whole head could have been up in flames!!!  WHEW 

So I suppose there wasn't any fire just a little sizzel.  A small strip of my hair about 3 inches long was chared and clumped and I got Frances to brush it out.  Surprisingly you can't really tell it happened now, but I was worried at the time that it would show that I had a chunk missing!  

Not sure how lucky the card was then!  But after I did finish scratching it to show the message it said the following will give me good luck this year: The number 28, striped socks, the colour orange and squirrels!  The number 28 though!  Oooooo thats how old I am turning! 

The rest of the night I kept getting wafts of burnt har smell.

Anyways I am safe and still have hair.  And thanks to everyone who came out.   

Super Bowl Sunday

UPDATE POST GAME - WOOT, I was pretty close on my predictiions.  Final score: Packers 31 - Steelers 25.

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Unfortunately I can't watch the Super Bowl live as the festivities kick off at 11pm Sunday evening, but I will be sticking me head in the sand all day Monday at work, as to not find out the score, and watch it Monday evening.

My prediction:

Green Bay Packers:    28
Pittsberg Steelers:       24

I have disliked the Steelers for years, not really sure why, I bet that my dad hates them and it has filtered down from there!

Who do you think you are?

I am very excited.  I have bought a ticket to the "Who do you think you are National History show." Link below.

http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk/

Basically it is a big Geneology trade show.  I have been researching my family tree for about 2 years now.  I have had some success, but lately I spend a lot of hours not finding pretty much anything.  I am going to have to start digging deeper. Anyways this show should be brilliant.  There is an ask the expert section and lots of learning seminars, 3 of which I am already booked into (Organising your Family tree, Best Geneolgy websites, and Ireland: Finding your realatives born there).  I know that it is a bit of an odd hobby, more usually practised by retirees!   My boss at work teasingly calls me a geek.  I don't mind, I really do enjoy it.

This photo below is my great great great great grandpa, Francis Porter who was born in Ireland around 1820.  He was a reverend in a town called Bready.

My actual resolutions

Once I read Jen B's blog and she had 100 resolutions I thought I should think of a few more. 

So...

- I would like to restart knitting (I got all this yarn for Christmas last last year and all the sudden I stopped knitting, must get on that)

- I would like to get to the gym at least twice a week. (So far this is going pretty well as there is this pilatess class on Wednesday evenings that I really enjoy going to, and I usually get to the gym on Sundays. So maybe I should try for  3 times!)

- I am only going to eat McDonald's on 6 occations in the entire year.  (So basically once every 2 months, so it would be best to go as long as I can before the first time; save up my times :). 

- Less snacking at work

- To be more friendly and open in work and social situations. 

- To get the 7:55 train to work everyday and not sleep in and get the 8:15 which makes me late for work

- I need to decide what is happening in my life in the second half of 2011 and also 2012 (I need to do this be thinking seriously about whether I would like to go back for more schooling and in WHAT. )


That last one is a big one, gulp.

Ssllyod in Paris

When Dad came to visit in December, he, Mark and I too a train trip to Paris.  We stayed for 3 nights at a great hotel, Place de'Arts, in the Montmarte area.  I would definately stay there again if I went to Paris again.

I have a cold

Wednesday morning I was fine, then at work I started sneezing more than usual.  BOOM running nose, sniffling, a cold.  Today I am running from the eyes.  I swear no one get the same kinds of colds a me.  I guess we all have our personal kind of cold. 

Black Swan tomorrow, woohoo I am excited.

We have reorganised the funiture in the living room slightly since the christmas tree was taken down.   FYI organize in the UK is with an s not a z.  Who knew!

It Snowed!

On December 1st look how much snow we had!

And when the snow started melting the icey snow ripped the evesdrough right off the back roof!!

In Brugge

On the weekend at the end of October Mark and I took at trip to Brugge, Belgium.  We also had a stop in Brussels on the way.  Belgium is beautiful!  I couldn't believe all the old cool buildings.  In the 1300's Brugge was the 3rd biggest city in Europe. It is very old.  Also 'In Brugge' is a great movie.  See it :)

New Years Traditions

Last year, 31 December 2009, I was in the big R and hosted a New Years Eve get together at my mom's house.  I wanted to do something different or special when the clock struck 12.  I went online and googled "News Years Eve traditions."   I wanted to see what thing people did on New Years in different countires.  I read a bunch of things that I don't really remember, but one thing I did use was that in Spain some people put 12 grapes on skewer and at the stroke of midnight if you eat all of the grapes in a minute you will have good luck for the year to come.  Or something like that!   Anyways we all had grapes at 12 last year.  This year I did it again.  It is my new tradition!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My neighbours are twits

Well I should be more specific - I don't want to tar the whole neighbourhood! Our neighbours on the right wall side are squaky, kareoke singing twits who like to sing Alana Myles Black Velvet, How Can I get you Alone by Heart and Avril Levaine songs just to name a few -  in the early morning hours.   You can hear every prolonged, off key word.

Right now it's Umbrela and 12:13am, eventually I will have to attempt to go to sleep.  I will have to put the ear plugs in and hope for the best.  I want to punch those 2 girls in their pink polo shirt wearing, cackling faces.  What mistifies me is that there is at least one guy visitor in their livingroom that has been sitting there listening to this racket for over 2 hours.    Who befriends these home singing peoples?

Why I love the CFL

I love watching lots of sports.  During the Olympics I get sucked in and watch hours a day.   But in the last few years one sports league has risen above the rest.

The CFL (Canadian Football league) gives me joy!  I never miss watching a game.  I like that is a small league and I can follow all the teams.  I like that the pay for the players is modest and they play for a love of the game not the million you get in other major leagues.  But I think what really gives it the extra edge is that I like hearing about the Canadian and American players.  The Canadian ones because I am proud of what they have achieved and the American ones because I like to think about these young men from Louisiana and Texas and all over coming to Regina, a place they would never have been to in their entire lives if they hadn't been in football, and experiencing how life is; in Canada and in Saskatchewan.   I just like visitors. I think that is it.   I like showing people my town.  I loved taking Mark to the games.  Imagine a British person at Taylor field.  :) Soo cool!

New Years Resolutions

I didn't really think about how it was the end of a decade.  It's like we are going from the eighties to the nineties, but you know - 20 years later.   I haven't really thought of any resolutions yet, just I guess I would like to be less judgemental and more kind. 

I purchased a new camera and it is great!  It works so good in low light.  Anyways hi!

Cornwall