Five Worst Foods

1. Any kind of seafood or fish
2. Aubergines
3. Pesto
4. Prunes
5. Marmite

So, it turns out the gym is actually good for me. Thursday and Friday I felt mega-stressed and pissed off at work, so much so I almost insulted quite a few people, and wanted to kick the walls. But then I went to the gym after work on Friday night, did a really hard workout, and felt wonderful and chilled out in the evening, and slept really well. So I've proved that the gym is actually good for my mental wellbeing, therefore I should keep going.

Today is gorgeous and warm and sunny, but with a breeze, and I have sat in a cafe courtyard and eaten bakewell tart and drunk ginger beer and read the paper, and all is well with the world. Also I bought a suitcase, for my forthcoming jaunt to Trinidad, which is quite an important thing to have, really.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Everything and everyone is really annoying me today.

This is what happens when you start your day by waking up from a horrible nightmare, and then get loads of crap thrown at you at work.

Pah.

I'd really recommend you read this article at the Guardian's website, by Jessica Valenti of feministing. An excellent summary of the importance of feminism (if you were stupid enough to doubt it).

Spring lambs!

Having been extremely disappointed that I didn't get to feed lambs in the mall a few weeks ago, today K and I went to Wroxham barns, where I got to feed many sheep and goats and a donkey, AND to feed a lamb from a bottle, which was so cool. Yey!

David Tennant is annoying me much less as Dr. Who this series than last, which is good. He's stopped making so many ridiculous faces and being so over the top. So I'm enjoying Dr. Who a lot more.

Finally got a hard case for my guitar today, which is gorgeous, and lined with red velvet. Now I feel like a real musician, heh.

On my way to get the case I took loads of photos along a street where they're about to demolish almost all of the buildings and build new stuff. So I wanted to have a record of what it was like before the new stuff goes up. One thing I love about my city is the way it blends old and new so well, so I hope this development will keep that up.

Sat in one of my favourite cafes this morning, ate a scone, drank lime cordial, and did some writing. And did more at home this afternoon before falling asleep on the couch. The next assignment is due in two weeks. I have no idea what to write yet.

Overheard an excellent conversation in the cafe. May post it later.

I finished "Mansfield Park", which is satisfying, because it was nicely long, and took me more than a week to read. Also it was extremely amusing. I love Jane Austen.
I'm really enjoying Neil Gaiman's recent blog posts about writing. Especially the photos of his notebook. I love seeing other people's notebooks, it's so inspiring. Unless they're full of maths and stuff, that's just boring.

What goes on

Generally tedious week at work, as usual, except for two union-related things, which were good. One is that in my new role as Branch Assistant Secretary, I get to have monthly "informal" meetings with the local managers. There's me and another bloke from the processing side, and two people from the front-of-house, customer facing side, then there are a couple of managers. We go over any issues, raise areas of concern, and they tell us what's happening. Or, in theory they do, we'll see. My first one went well, quite friendly really, which I suppose is the best way. It'll be interesting to see what happens when something comes up we don't agree on. I like finding out what's going on though, as far as is possible, and I didn't feel anywhere near as intimidated as I expected. I think as I do this more, I should get more confident at it, although I was pleased that I brought a few issues up and didn't just sit there and listen as it was my first one.

Also had a branch meeting, which was the usual stuff. I do feel sometimes in a bit of a testosterone-filled room though, there's me and one other woman, and about ten blokes. Most of them are fine although I do get talked over occasionally. It's brilliant compared to what other women reps from other branches have told me about trying to get themselves heard though. I'm pleased to be one of the few women on our branch committee, and hopefully by seeing that there are a few women doing that stuff, maybe others will get involved too. I'm going to conference in a few weeks, which I suspect will be full of middle-aged men, but we'll see.

It's the weekend now, thankfully, and I have caramel chocolate drops from Hotel Chocolat, Lush bath bombs, and lots of reading and writing to do. Should be good.

Weekend stuff

Work this week was uneventful, thankfully, as my boss was back from holiday and acknowledged straight away that I'm on 4.5 hours a day until the humidifier is fixed. It's frustrating having had to go through all that hassle last week though. Pah. Stupid work.

Other than that, it's been a busy week. Martial arts on Tuesday night, which was excellent, but really tiring. I'd intended to go to the gym on Wednesday, but fell asleep at 3pm, and after that realised my body needed a rest, so spent the evening doing very little, and went to the gym on Thursday afternoon instead. I'm feeling very pleased with myself, because I've also been to the gym today, so I've done my goal of exercise for the week. Today was so much hard work though, more than normal. I think because it was my third session of the week. So tomorrow will be lazy and restful in contrast, which I'm very much looking forward to.

On Thursday night I met a couple of people in my writing group in a cafe to chat and do a few writing exercises, which went really well, and was great fun too. I always feel more inspired after writing with other people too, so that's a good way to kick off some ideas.

This afternoon after the gym I sat in the garden reading, which was gorgeous - blue skies, light breeze, sun shining. Forget-me-nots I grew from seed last year are in flower and looking beautiful, they're one of my favourite flowers. Although now I'm feeling wheezy and coughing, and I've remembered pollen is worst in the late afternoon/evening, so maybe sitting outside then wasn't such a good idea. I have some thyme tea to drink though, which usually helps.
Mmmm, I love the weekends.

Boo.

I am upset because yesterday, A told me that in the mall they had lambs!! Real ones, and a sign that said "Feed the spring lambs" and you could go and feed them from bottles. I didn't know about this until I was already at home, which is very unfair. Especially as the day before the mall just had inflatables for little children to jump on, which is just boring.
But spring lambs!!
So unfair.

Top 5 Fruit

1. Raspberries
2. Rhubarb (yes, I know technically it's a vegetable, I just don't care)
3. Peaches
4. Pineapple
5. Strawberries

I am still knackered from martial arts class last night. So instead of going to the gym today, I had a nap and watched last week's episode of "Ugly Betty" which I'd never got round to watching, because I'd spent my free time at the weekend working on my writing course instead of watching TV, which I think is very responsible of me. And unusual.
So I will go to the gym tomorrow instead, then I can be in agony from muscle aches for three days again. Yey!

Currently...

Current book:
"Mansfield Park" - Jane Austen
"Underground to Everywhere: London's Underground Railway in the Life of the Capital" - Stephen Halliday

Current CDs:
Siobhan Parr - Repeat to Fade
Teddy Thompson - Separate Ways
Eliza Carthy - Rough Music

Current TV show:
NCIS
Angel Season 3 on DVD

Current drink:
lime cordial with sparkling water

Current food:
Cadbury's mini eggs

Current wishlist:
More time
More money
Less work (how original of me)

Current triumph:
Getting back to martial arts class

Current bane of my existence:
Work

Current mood:
sleepy

So, today has been spent in almost catching up with my writing course (I'm now only half a chapter behind as opposed to two and a half chapters behind) and procrastinating and faffing about while trying to think of things to write. For once I've managed less procrastination, more writing, so all is well.
Back to work tomorrow, which will not be joyous, I'm sure.

Holiday Weekend

So, besides all the crap, some fun stuff has also been going on. Last Sunday A and I saw Thea Gilmore, who was brilliant, and was supported by Erin McKeown, who was also fab. And on Wednesday we saw Eliza Carthy and the Ratcatchers, also fab, of course. I love watching Eliza Carthy play the fiddle madly, chalk flying from her bow. It's fantastic.

I went to the gym on Thursday night, had an appointment with one of the trainers who designed me a new programme, which I then did, and was in agony for the next two days. But the good kind of agony, if there is such a thing, the kind which means you're working a part of you that evidently needs some work. I need to do that twice a week, and hopefully will become mega fit, and possibly a superhero. Or, you know, maybe just actually fit instead of useless.

The long weekend has been lovely, a walk and picnic with friends on Friday, wandering round the city with A on Saturday, having lunch sitting outside in a gorgeous medieval courtyard, eating ice creams, coming home for an afternoon nap. Then yesterday another picnic with K and Steve, and a day of playing many board games and eating, which went on until 10pm. It was very cool, especially getting over-excited about Pictionary.

Today, more sleeping this morning, and this afternoon I must do some work on my writing course. I have managed to eat hot cross buns for breakfast four times though, excellent.

Teach them while they're young

I was on the bus yesterday, and opposite me was a woman with a small girl in a pram, so the girl couldn't have been more than about two years old. The little girl keeps lifting her leg up and resting her foot on the pram seat, and the woman keeps going to her: "Put your leg down! I've told you to put your leg down! Everyone on the bus can see your knickers!" and then "You should have been a boy, not a girl. I'm sure you were meant to be a boy."
Nice. So, let's get the gender-stereotyping in as early as possible, and teach girls that there are things boys can and should do that they cannot and should not do. Also, that girls should be ashamed of their bodies and not show that they feel comfortable with them.
It had never before occurred to me that such things were that blatantly taught to little girls. Thank goodness my parents never told me I was behaving like a boy, and that was wrong.