Things I learned over the weekend

• 

  Lemons… becasue Zemanta has no pictures of Lemsip (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  I am not as unfit as I think I am! And I can walk up hills if I have to.

• If you go hiking with a blocked nose, after a while it will start to run instead.
• However, within a couple of hours of returning from the hike, your cold will return with a vengeance.
• Lemsip is amazing!! Actually, I knew that already but it bears repeating.
• The pain from blisters is much worse than post-hike muscle ache!
• Chocolate and cherry brownies are DELICIOUS! (Recipe to come)
• The people I come in to contact with have no idea how I feel when meeting new people. Which I guess means I do a good enough job of acting “normal” (whatever that is…).

I have to go to the Irish pub now to see the owner – he asked us to come in some time this week, I assume to get some Ireland tips – so that’s all you’re getting today. Next post will be longer, promise!

Oh, it’s Friday (Friday letters)

Thanks to yesterday’s public holiday, I’ve spent most of today completely confused. Back to work means Monday, right? Except today was actually Friday. Brain. Can’t. Cope. Anyway… it is indeed Friday, and that means I need to write some letters.

Photo credit: Bods

Dear Friday. Back again so soon? Not that I’m complaining… you just kind of snuck up on me, that’s all. Time is flying again!

Dear boyfriend. Conferences suck! I’m looking forward to actually getting to see you for longer than 20 minutes tonight!

Dear work. It’s flattering that you trust me enough to let me be the guinea pig for new software, but please could it be someobody else’s turn next time?

Dear Newcastle United. Whatever you do, please do not lose against QPR this weekend! You are too close to relegation to be doing anything stupid.

Dear unhealthy foods. Why must you be so tasty? (Yes, Cheddar Cheese, I am looking at you. And you Sour Cream & Jalapeno Tortilla Chips!)

Dear self-raising flour. You need to be used, so I’m thinking baking sesh this weekend. Healthy baked goods only, of course – I mean, Blueberry Muffins must be healthy, they contain fruit

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Weekend fun

I have more to tell you about Berlin, but the photos are taking ages to sort, so for now I shall tell you about my weekend instead.

Yesterday my friend brought her Wii round and a few of us had a games night. We invited my downstairs neighbour over so we couldn’t disturb anyone and did Just Dance. It was a lot of fun but sooo exhausting! And I can really feel my thighs today! At least I can definitely say I got my exercise this weekend! Photos do exist, but they will not be finding their way on to this blog ever.

Today, the sun was shining, so after watching Newcastle United lose horribly in a football match against their local rivals (I wish I’d stayed in bed!!), Jan and I headed out to look for signs that Spring has finally sprung. We found them in the form of blossoms… finally here a month later than usual!

My new shoes finally got their chance to go outside! Hopefully this is the start of this year’s good weather and I won’t have to get my winter boots back out again!

Our yearly passes for the zoo ran out a week ago, so we decided to go and renew them, and pop in to the zoo while we were at it. We got to see the new baby giraffe! Very cute.

We also went to visit the alpacas, but they were too busy eating grass to pay any attention to us.

Walking round zoos is thirsty work, so we decided to head to a cafe and have an iced chocolate (well, I did. Jan had some yoghurty fruit thing).

Then it was time to head home for our tea (or dinner, if you prefer), which is currently cooking. Meanwhile, I’m off to watch The Big Bang Theory.

Friday letters: The Berlin edition

What? You didn’t think I’d go a week without posting my Friday letters did you? Even if I’m not actually around. This is a scheduled post, so I apologise in advance for not replying to your comments. I will when I return, promise!

Dear Berlin. Hii! I am currently in you! (Oooh, that sounds kind of dodgy…)

Dear Eddie Izzard. NO MORE SLEEPS til I see you live! Excited is an understatement…

Dear readers. Sorryyy, I had to mention Eddie Izzard again. But I promise to do so only once more after this post, ok? (Come on… you don’t seriously expect me not to blog about what I’m sure is going to be one of the best evenings of my life, do you?)

Dear weather. I would be most grateful if you could prove the weathermen (and women) wrong over the next couple of days. I do not want to wander around Berlin in the snow and rain thank you very much!

Dear Karlsruhe. I hope by the time I see you again on Tuesday Spring will finally have arrived!

Happy Friday everyone. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

Friday letters time already!

Both the weekend and this week seemed to go by incredibly fast – I can’t believe it’s Friday again already!
After an incredibly busy weekend last week, this time I have no plans whatsoever. The flat is a tip though, so it seems like a cleaning sesssion should be in order. If I can be bothered, that is.

Here come this week’s Friday letters.

Mr Zip (Photo credit: ian.crowther)

Dear Eddie Izzard. Two weeks today, I shall be at your show in Berlin! This thought makes me so excited that I may have actually just squeed aloud. I actually, genuinely cannot wait!

Dear Berlin. Do you think maybe you could start to show signs of spring by the time we arrive? I’ve seen photos of the snow that’s currently lying and I really don’t feel like walking around in it! There’s been enough snow now, I think… after all, it is officially spring!

Two fat ladies (Photo credit: duncan)

Dear body. First it was the extra huge bum that crept up on me, now I seem to have developed a belly as well. I hadn’t thought much of the bit of extra padding I’d noticed until Sunday when I tried on a dress. A year ago, it looked good on me. Five days ago, it clung in all the wrong places and made me look about six months pregnant (I’m not, before anyone asks). Where has this fat explosion come from?!

Dear self. You’ve managed to do a circuit of your exercise DVD twice this week. It’s a start, but nowhere near good enough. This belly seriously needs getting rid of!

Dear Easter. You are just around the corner, and while I’m looking forward to the four-day weekend you bring, I knid of wish you weren’t this close. Not sure I’ll be able to resist the huge basket of treats that’s now appeared on the table at work. Normally, I would be excited to dig into all the chocolatey goodness, but this year I’m sensing it’s a bad idea (see fat explosion letter above…)

That’s all folks! If you want more Friday letters, click on the button below. Have a great weekend!

Friday letters

So, it’s Friday again. This week has been a bit of a weird one. On one hand, it feels like only a few days since I was getting ready for last weekend (which, of course, went far too fast). But  at the same time, I’ve had so many texts to translate that by Wednesday I already felt like I’d done at least a week’s worth of work and the weekend would never come.

Anyway, on to Friday’s letters…

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Dear boyfriend. I hope when you return from your week-long dissertation conference you’ll be able to relax a little. Having you come to bed at 4 a.m. has not been fun for me, and I can’t imagine you’ve enjoyed it very much either!

Dear flat. Jan is away for a week from Sunday–Saturday, so it’s just you and me. I’m actually quite looking forward to having you all to myself! Just so you know, I have major spring cleaning plans (and no, I don’t care that spring isn’t even on the horizon yet. You are getting blitzed!).

Dear boyfriend’s dissertation professor. Was it really necessary to schedule this year’s conference thingy so that my boyfriend is away on his birthday? Not impressed!

Dear organic spelt cookies with ginger and chocolate chips. Why must you taste so good? You’re seriously not helping with the healthy eating thing! Treats in moderation are fine… but it’s impossible to eat only a moderate amount of you!

Dear Pride and Prejudice. I promise I am going to start reading you this weekend. I would have got to you sooner if I hadn’t been too tired to read my previous book on my morning commute. I’ve finished that book now though, and will be moving on to you next!

Dear readers. As you may have noticed, my 35 before 35 list now has its very own page (click here). However, I still don’t have 35 items. Please keep your suggestions coming!

Dear February. I know you’re technically one of the winter months, but was it really necessary for the temperature to drop back down to 4°C this morning?

 

Friday letters

It’s the final day of the working week, which means it must be time for another exciting edition of Friday letters.

(Photo credit: Leo Reynolds)

Dear new necklace. I probably shouldn’t have bought you, but you were just too pretty to resist. I shall wear you lots to make sure I get my money’s worth!

Dear Amazon. Please stop tempting me with your oh-so-perfect recommendations. I cannot afford to buy all the things I want from you!

Dear quiz team. Next month, we shall be better. OK?

Dear boyfriend. Thank you for my anniversary flowers. Very pretty

Dear self. No, chocolate is not a healthy, balanced breakfast. Also, remember your exercise DVD? Do it!!

Dear bed. I’ve been neglecting you this week. Don’t worry, I intend to make up for it over the weekend!

Dear readers. Happy Friday! have a great weekend.

More Friday letters

Yep, it’s that time again! I haven’t really had much to post about this week (as you may have noticed…). January is such a blah month, don’t you think? Nothing really seems to happen – at least not in my life. Nevertheless, here are my Friday letters for the week…

19th century letterbox in Wormgate (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dear snow. You are very pretty, but must you also be so slippy? I’m sure I’m going to break my neck before long!

Dear self. I know Amazon is really tempting with its e-mails full of recommendations and ridiculously cheap second-hand books, but  you really need to stop spending money… at least until pay day!

Spending Money (Photo: 401(K) 2013)

Dear weekend. I’m so glad you’re here! I know we’re going to have lots of fun together.

Dear exercise DVD. I have done a circuit from you three times this week (I skipped Wednesday for no other reason than laziness, and tonight I seriously don’t have time! Been home long enough to type this and as soon as I’m done I’m off to put some washing on and start cooking tea). When do I get to start seeing results?

Dear self (again). The answer to the above question is when you stop allowing yourself a treat every. single. day.

Dear new gloves. You are soft and fluffy and, most importantly, warm. I think I’m in love!

Dear brain. One day you are going to produce a translation in which my colleague doesn’t have to suggest stylistic changes in every other sentence. Please work with me on this because seeing so many corrections every single day is starting to make my wonder whether I’m actually in the right profession.

Dear lips. I know it’s cold outside and central heating sucks the moisture out of everything, but please could you stop being dry and chapped and sore? I can only put lip balm on so many times a day, you know!

Dear tea. You (and chocolate) have kept me sane this week. Thank you!

For more Friday letters, see:
http://www.thesweetseasonblog.com/2013/01/fridays-letters_18.html

Happy weekend, everybody!

More Friday letters

Photo5_red_ribbon (Photo credit: Jayegirl99)

Another week over, and another busy one it’s been. Ill colleague always means lots of extra work  for me. It’s over now though, thank goodness. Will have to make this a short post as I’m off to a birthday party tonight and need to get ready. Here are this weeks Friday letters:

Dear Americans at the bus stop. In the 4 minutes we were standing there, I actually lost count of how many times you used the word like – and the phrase I was like/we were like. Way to reinforce stereotypes! (Small sample: “Some people like come to class early and they like leave their bags on seats. Then they come back at like 10:15 and I’m like ‘who the hell are you?’”)

Dear “likers” of my blog. While it is nice to have people liking my blog, it’s a little scary when you do it within seconds of me pressing publish. The fact that you never actually comment does not make things better. Who are you and what do you want from me? (To those of you who like posts and leave a comment, I don’t mean you!)

Dear man at the train station. Thank you for rescuing my chocolate bar from the vending machine for me!

Dear weekend. I know I have lots of plans again, but could you please go by a little slower than the last one. After the week I’ve had I seriously need some rest!

Dear Primark. It’s probably kind of sad that I’m this excited about you opening in Karlsruhe, but I really don’t care. I LOVE my purchases (blog post on that to come).

Dear Newcastle United players. Could the injuries please stop now.  Six of our key players are out with injuries (plus a few I’m not sure about) and now Cisse is doubtful. It won’t be long before there are none of you left to play…

Dear sleep. I miss you. How does a lie in on Sunday sound?

That’s all from me. Party time!

Friday letters again

Finally, the last day of the working week is here! It could not have come soon enough for me. I’ve spent most days being convinced the week had to be further advanced than it actually was (in fact, on Wednesday afternoon I was utterly convinced that it already was Friday, which led to some confusion when I came to record my times for the day. Opening the software and seeing that there were still three whole columns to fill in was a bit of a shock to the system I can tell you!). Here are this week’s Friday letters.

Dear cough. I honestly thought I had almost recovered, so I don’t appreciate you coming back with a vengeance this morning. Is it because I offended you with my bog off post yesterday? If so, I’m sorry to say I don’t care. I meant every word of it!

Dear weekend. You are full to the brim with exciting plans. I can’t wait! (Although I may end up wishing you were three days long so I could have a chance to recover before going back to work!)

Dear Amazon. Please stop sending me e-mails wth book recommendations. I need to stay off you til pay day and you are really not helping!

Dear bed. I promise to spend some extra time in you tonight. We’ve spent way too little time together this week and I am so tired!

Dear readers. Thank you for still being my readers, despite the fact that all I’ve done recently is go on and on about my cough!

Dear weekend weather forecast. Please stay exactly as you are. Thank you.

Dear colleague (who will never actually read this). Thank you for complimenting on my translation today. It makes the many, many suggested changes easier to bear.

Dear boyfriend. I have actually lost count of how many evening meals we’ve actually eaten together recently. It’s amazing seeing you in the evenings, even if you do continue working after I’ve gone to bed. Thank you!!

That’s all from me today. What can I say – it’s been a boring week!