All these things that I have done

I went to Boots to buy some new hair things to use with my new, longer (although not really long enough yet) hair and as I got in the queue I thought "I'm sure I know that guy in front of me". I took a hard look and suddenly realised that it was Robert Sowerby in a beard! Robert was the other person who got A's in my A level english classes although we had very different styles. He used to do loads of research and write reams and reams for each essay with quotes and examples and stuff (much more like a university essay in some ways) whereas I used to mainly try and answer the question on my own as much as possible. On a related note, I appear pathologically incapable of writing essays more than 6 sides long - even at uni. Anyway, I said hi and he remembered me and we had a bit of a chat while we waited. Apparently he's working at Lloyds. It was really nice in a slightly surreal way.

So, it occurs to me, reading back the entries here from the last week or so that I have spent far too much time bitching mostly about work and so I think it's time for a blessing count.

• My health: While this is not as good as it could be (i.e. I get colds all the time) it's not like I have to go to hospital ever or anything like that so I think that counts as a plus
• General: I live in a country where I have freedom of choice about my religion and orientation and where no-one will actually try to kill me on behalf of the state for taking drugs or committing adultery. I have plenty to eat and if I couldn't provide that for myself there are safety nets there. I don't have any problems keeping warm or dry. I may bitch about Britain sometimes, but it's not bad compared to some of the alternatives.
• My house: It has made a huge difference to my quality of life living in a house I really like in a city I love. I was so lucky to find this place - it ended up being a last minute thing because the place that I was going to have (which wasn't nearly as good) wasn't going to be ready in time and this place was pretty much the only one I could find within both my price range and the area of the city I wanted (i.e. not too far out) so I was pretty much going to have to take it whatever happened and then it turned out to be lovely. Hoorah.
• My job: I know I bitch about it all the time but actually my job is not bad. There may be a couple of annoying people here and it may be a bit of a commute but the work itself is fairly interesting, I get to work fairly autonomously, I have quite a nice boss and I get paid frankly far more than what I'm worth which has to be good. Also, they are still paying for me to beef up my CV with useless qualifications. Plus, it would appear that GE have unofficially given in about the tea in that our security passes will once again let us into the nice coffee bit but no-one has announced this. Bless
• My friends: Are fantastic. They're good fun, have great ideas, organize me to go out and do things and are generally all round fab.
• My family: Are also fantastic. I'm very close indeed to my immediate family (as those of you who've been reading this for a while may remember). They're always there for me to whine about whatever's bugging me or share whatever I'm happy about. They're a great laugh and we enjoy lots of the same things (my Mum is one of the best shopping partners in the whole world :) ). Yay for them
• My boyfriend: Ahhhh, he's so lovely. Plus he puts up with me being endlessly soppy and adoring with remarkable good grace, suppressing his natural cynicism for the cause. He lets me bully him into making me tea pretty much whenever I want (with the exception of being the first one out of bed in order to perform said task) and lets me worm my little head under his arm pretty much whenever I want a hug (i.e. pretty much all the time :) ). He puts up with me when I'm depressed and when I'm happy - both of which can be a strain. And he loves me loads*. And he's fantastic in bed.

So, there you are. It's great to be me.

* I am as certain of this as it is possible to be about the feelings of a person who is not myself.

Lots of stuff to tell you about, oh beloved LiveJournal...

( read about my busy weekend )

For some reason the traffic went insane this morning. I thought it was pretty bad but when we got to the roundabout on the westway where it usually thins out it was actually gridlocked! I ended up not getting in til 9:50! Trouble is, when it's like that there's not much you can do about it. The driver told me that the bus which had left Oxford at 5:45 (i.e. an hour earlier) ended up only being about 15 mins earlier than us! I guess that's good as they can't start making a case for me actually getting up even earlier. The other really big plus is that my brain seems to have twigged the routine and has started to wake me up pretty much in time with my alarm so I don't feel so exhausted. I still doze on the bus but I'm not nearly so zonked in the morning even though I was out til 12 last night which was cool. The only thing is, once I get my laptop (a couple of weeks hopefully) I don't quite know how I'll react because the days I'll be working from home will be quite random probably. We'll have to see.

Had a really nice evening in the end. Met up with Alex early for a meal in the pub before the hoards arrived (forgetting of course that some of them always turn up early) and we sat around and hugged and stuff. He always makes me feel good - I love that 'looked after' feeling I have when I'm being hugged. I think we're going to try to have a quiet night in with a movie on Thursday which should be cool - we had a really good time with Charlie's Angels. I think I'm going to skip out on the beer festival though on the grounds that I really don't like beer! I can sort things out for Mum & Dads visit - I really ought to hoover and I haven't got the duvet and stuff yet either. I might try to go and get those tomorrow lunchtime although they might be a bit of a pain to hump home on the bus. I wonder if Oxford has a late night shopping night...

Once again, Alex has got something more interesting to do than spend any time with me. Its starting to get to me. I was feeling a bit off last night (tiredness combined with a small amount of alcohol) so I went back to his and slept there which was really nice and he didn't even seem to mind having to be woken up in the morning but then he had to spoil it by telling me just as I was leaving that he suddenly had something better to do on Friday. Of course, I could always tag along and sit and look bored, confused and tired while Alex goes off and socializes with everyone. Plus I'm sure they'll all be just thrilled to see me. I guess I'd better just wait at home like a good little girl.

Well, went to see A.I. last night, and I have to say that, like zoo_music_girl, I found it very disappointing. It started really quite well and the stuff with Jude Law was great but then it just lost it. Like Contact, if they'd ended it about 1/2 an hour earlier (and we in fact identified several points where they could have) it would have been so much better. Ah well. Still, I felt a bit cheated really. I can't understand why its been so well reviewed when the last 1/2 an hour is just pure crappy American slush. I don't want to put too much on my specific complaints here in case any one reading this hasn't seen the movie but suffice it to say that its not recommended.

Apart from that I actually had a pretty fantastic weekend. Lazy day of doing nothing with Alex on Saturday until the evening when we went to Ian and Ruth's housewarming which was pretty cool - some wonderful tableaux! Then lunch with the guys in Joes on Sunday, followed by a brief look at my house - everyone v. impressed - then off to town. We missed out on the earlier showing of A.I. (sold out) so we all went to Alex's where Jeremy did mine and Alex's hair and then on to the Radcliffe and then the film. Pretty good as weekends go.

Unfortunately they still haven't got my connection to my website sorted out at work which is a bit of a pain, as you can imagine so another fruitless day looms before me...

Sat at home feeling ill and yucky. Couple of phone calls from Alex, partly to check if I was ok, partly to check whether I was going to see Laurie Anderson. The answer to which is a resounding I don't know. On the one hand, I'd quite like to go - a crowd of people I know are going and several people have said that they think I would like her stuff. On the other hand, I know that Tanaqui wants to go and since shes decided that she hates me I guess she won't go if I'm there. Which puts me on the spot rather since I know shes really into LAs music and so would definitely like it whereas I'd just be going on spec music-wise. Plus shes been going through a really bad patch lately and so it would probably be really good for her to go. Hmmm - we'll have to see. Plus, Alex is sitting on the fence in a way I find vaguely annoying. I can tell that what he really wants is for me to decide that I don't want to go so that he can have an easy life, but he doesn't feel that he can actually ask me not to go.

The insurance company are going to replace my Visor for me. Hooray.