A Life of Crime and Chocolate

Been watching The Girl With the Dragoon Tattoo etc. trilogy on netflix (Swedish w/subtitles.) We have the last one to watch. Really good. I really have to read them someday. I normally only have time to read on lunch at work. And honestly, I'd rather go back to reading some of our MTSers work. I gots to get me one of them there Kindle thangs.

heyjude said:

Wow. That's huge. Sorry! But look at that smile.

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Wow. She's looking gorgeous! I knew she'd thrive with you.


I spent the last four days over at my daughter's house renovating my grandson's room. Didn't think it would take more than a day or two but one thing led to another. You know how it goes. You start off painting the walls, then the window frames look tatty by comparison so you paint them too. Then you notice that now the white paint on the skirting and the dado rails looks yellow by comparison to the pristine window frame so you paint that too. Then the door and door frame looked tatty ... and so on and so forth. When we moved the furniture out, the carpet really looked bad (was cleaned after each puppy oops but some stains just don't give) so out went the carpet and today we put in a new one.

Sheesh. We even painted the bed and the bookcase. My daughter put brand new sheets and duvet on the bed and my grandson (aged 91/2) pronounced the room as "awesome".

Paint is pain without tea. (I had chocolate instead)

But right now I have watermelon. It's hot here.

HJ, is the dog that small, or the grass really tall? Oh and, Happy New Year to all.

HJ what a BEAUTY!

I spent Crimbo and New Year with my brother, sis-in-law and niece and had a wonderful time with them. Highlight was going to Jane Austen's House at Chawton. Wonderful house and very well presented. I got quite emotional going from room to room and seeing the table she sat at to write.

After nearly two weeks away from home I feel divorced from reality and out of touch with everything. Won't last though. Too much to do. Spent this morning writing a scene for Shakespeare Sandwich - great fun.

Awww thanks HJ.

Just had my Daddy-O come around with his new laptop. I've been trying to teach him how to get around it - He is so cute when he's like "What do I do next." "How do I get google to work." "How do I get out of this?". It's not very often I know more than him about something.

I'm going to go to the store now and exchange some tops that I bought him for christmas, that are a little tight around the middle lol.

When I get home I think I'm going to make a self saucing chocolate pudding ... Just 'coz I can

HJ go you!

Today I read a story I wrote ages ago and wondered if I had been taking funny powders. Good plot, a shame about some of the writing.

heyjude said:

I survived today! I had to do announcements at church, but speaking in front of people makes me terribly nervous. Also, I never had time to look over the announcements before I went up. Also, when I was supposed to be up on stage I was tending to a small crisis so my pastor had to call me out and then make jokes about me until I got up there. But I gave the announcements and survived!

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Well done, HJ, you're braver than I am. I hate public speaking.

Reward yourself with some gooey chocolate.

How cool HJ

I think public speaking is safe way to get an adrenaline rush.
Back in highschool (I was 15) I did a 4 way rotary speech contest against my best friend.
Having to give a 5 minute speech on a topic of my choiuce - but it had to have 4 specific lines in it (Cant remember what they were). I won and got to go onto the next round - Where I lost to a friend from an old primary school - I didnt mind because I used to think he was pretty cute.

You deffo need some chocolate to calm those nerves tho

Being a historian, I talk in front of groups all the time, but you know, I still can't eat before I do it.

My right wrist is killing me, can barely bend it.
I am prone to RSI in it, so think I've got that yet again .

I'm trying to get skinny - I bought some biggest loser shakes and protein bars - I just had a double choc shake for my dinner and a mudcake protein bar for my desert. I feel so disgustingy bloated - That'll teach me.

I've given if a few days rest and it was feeling so much better.

Now that my wrist is feeling better my word processor has decided to stop working.
It's either one thing or another in this household :/.

Thank goodness i have my net pad - although it is very small and the keyboard sucks.

On a different note - I've signed up for a creative writing course, i get my confirmation letter this week sometime and should start by late next week.

French Maiden I hope the writing course is all you wish it to be. I so enjoyed the one I did.

HJ I sympathise about the hands - I had a long drive yesterday and when I got home my hands were so painful. I rubbed them with a cream the doc recommended and they are so much better today.

It is 12.43 and I have only just got out of bed. Totally lazy morning! Had breakfast in bed, read, elevenses in bed, read.

Has anyone read With Malice of Forethought by Francis Iles?

Ugh!

That's all I got to say about the beginning of this year.

I started out sick.

Then I had to work seven days straight to cover for the hotel owners as they took their winter break.

Apparently, I needed to decompress a bit. I just came off a 2.5 day bender to write 2096 words today.

No silly. I don't drink that often.

It was a video game bender. I got my first one in nine years for Christmas.

I'd randomly wake up; find it's a few days later; I'd be surrounded by a bunch of empty Mountain Dew bottles; with faint recollections of needing to find Braka the Paragon in the middle of the Orzammar dungeon.

Now I remember why I gave them up...

No need. This is why I go through life not accepting any responsibility what-so-ever.

It's best that way.

I can empathise, Doc. I have also been sick on and off since January started. Nice big fat cold this morning after wandering the Old Town with my boss and fellow guides yesterday in -1C to look at the new route for the tour. I don't drink but I picked up a bar of chocolate the other day that I thought was pistachio and turned out it actually had absinthe inside it, so I might take a square of that and see if it makes me feel better. If I was back home I'd've been made to take a wee sip of whisky so maybe this'll do the trick.

Still mildly sick, but last shift tonight and then two days off, and it seems like I'm actually done with the website stuff for work at last, boss is happy with the new proofs. Although she is threatening to send more work my way!

Going to spend my days off shopping, as it turns out I have more money than I thought this month (actually it turns out I have some money, which is more money than I thought I had), and typing up the handwritten story from my notebook.