Friday letters – busy, busy, busy

Oh, hi! Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few days. Work has been craaazy. To the extent that I was up at 5:30 a.m. today and yesterday so I could go in early and get stuff done. It’s only half an hour earlier than I usually get up, but my “normal” time of 6 a.m., but somehow it just kills me. As I’m sure you can imagine, the weekend is very welcome this week!

Dear boyfriend. Now that your paper deadline has passed, I hope that you’ll be able to spend at least a little less time working so I can spend some time with you!

Dear Newcastle United. I know Yohan Cabaye has been sold, but please don’t panic and forget how to play. The last thing we want is another derby day loss! (Especially considering how far below us the Scum *ahem* Sunderland are in the table).

Dear scales. Your number has been slowly creeping up for a couple of weeks now, but today was the highest weight you’ve shown me since August! I would like to believe you’re lying to me, but in reality I know exactly how much cake, chocolate and clotted cream I’ve been eating recently…

Dear unhealthy food. Why must you be so tasty? Cream, butter and bacon just make meals taste So. Much. Better. Is it any wonder my weight (and waist line) have taken a turn for the worse recently?

Dear godson. The videos that your mother posted on facebook are very cute, but you’re growing up far too fast! What’s with all this walking and saying actual words? I wish I could see you more often…

Dear February. Welcome! I’m hoping you’ll be a more exciting month than your brother, January.

That’s all from me for today. I hope next week I’ll have both the time and the inspiration to keep up with my blog better. Happy weekend, everyone!

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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?

 

First Friday letters of February

It is February today… the second month of the year. How did that happen?!?
It is also Friday, and we all know what that means… Letters time!

Letter box (Photo credit: Pete Reed)

Dear January. Where did you go? I know you’re not my favourite month, and I can’t say I’m exactly sorry to see you go, but I was hoping to get a little more done before February turned up!

Dear hair. Sometimes, I hate you. How is it even possible for a shampoo that was fine two weeks ago to stop working on you? Does anyone else out there become immune to their shampoo after a while or is it just me?

All the weather! (Photo: Wikipedia)

Dear weather. I’m confused! First we had snow, then freezing rain and black ice. This week it’s gradually got warmer – peaking with highs of a whole 16°C on Wednesday. And then there’s the rain – we’ve had lots of rain over the past few days, although yesterday was a mixture of cloud and sunshine. Next week, it’s supposed to get colder again. What is going on?!

Dear new kettle. I love how red and shiny you are! Now I just need the toaster to break so I can replace that with a red one too.

Dear cross stitch. I’ve been neglecting you this week, but I really need to get a move on if I’m going to have three kits completed by May! I’ll be back on you with a venegeance this weekend.

That’s all from me. I appear to have done nothing this week! Click on the button for more Friday’s letters.

Freezing February

Just as we finally made it to the end of January, the horrible grey month after Christmas when all the pretty lights have gone and there seems to be nothing left to look forward to, a cold front from Siberia decided to move across Germany. Things should have been starting to look up this week. I was looking forward to longer days (perhaps actually seeing the light), mildish weather and maybe a few snowsrops here and there. Instead, it is freezing. And I mean that literally. Yesterday it was -7°C in the morning and minus 2 later on. Right now it’s -5°C, but the wind makes it feel even colder. My cheeks were numb this morning, and my hands felt cold despite my gloves. And the forecast says it could go down as far as -10°C tomorrow! I just hope my train to work isn’t delayed again! This weekend I think I shall be staying indoors with the heating on!!

T minus 27 days and counting…

It is now February, and we all know what February means, don’t we? It means I have reached the final month of my probation period at work. One day down, 27 to go and then… the moment of truth. Will I be allowed to continue working there, or or will everything that’s gone wrong with the latest big job tip the scales in the other direction? Only time will tell… in the meantime I’m working like a demon and trying not to think about it too much. Which shouldn’t actually be too difficult this week… if today is any indication of what’s to come I won’t have time to think until at least Friday afternoon. Don’t bother coming here for any wit and wisdom this week, my brain has already turned to mush and it’s only Monday! (Not that it’s worth coming here for wit and wisdom any week, but that’s besides the point…).

Anyway, that’s enough rambling for today. The boyfriend is on his way home and I haven’t even started making tea yet. I’d better getting cracking or I’ll never get to bed tonight!
Oh, and in case anyone was wondering I didn’t go and buy a washing machine at the weekend. The trip to IKEA didn’t come off either. I did manage to buy a new quilt cover from REAL though. That’s good too, right? Baby steps…

Wet feet

It snowed again last night. Pretty much all evening in fact. But by the time we woke up this morning it was raining, which resulted in some lovely deep slush to wade through. Very pleasant. And just to mkae things even better, the boots I wear for work have now entirely given up on any pretense of being waterproof. By the time I got halfway across the carpark my socks were soaked. Not a good start to the day. And because the stuff that was soaking its way into my shoes was basically liquid ice my toes went numb. Mmm, nice. I’ve spent the whole day at work with wet feet. Seriously, they did not dry out at all in the entire 8 and three quarter hours I was there. Well, possibly they did dry slightly and my toes at least thawed out, but at no point today did I not have wet socks. I’m sure a whole day of cold wetness cannot be good for my poor feet. Hmm, maybe it’s time I invested in a new pair of shoes… or got my gorgeous Austria winter boots repaired. Or failing that Spring could just turn up – we are over halfway through February after all…

This is a bit of a crap blog post really isn’t it? Sorry about that; I’ve done so much work today that I think my brain has gone and switched itself off now.
I do have one bit of news, but I don’t really want to talk about it too much yet in case I jinx things….

Experiencing winter the Karlsruhe way

It snowed last night. I woke up this morning to find the world all white. Well, sort of white. It hadn’t snowed very much so there were still bits of grass peeping through, but at least it was snow – definitely an improvement on the sleet of yesterday afternoon. It’s nearly all gone now though, which is disappointing. Especially as it snowed all afternoon where I work. It’s only half an hour away and yet there it looks like a Christmas card while Karlsruhe is now just soggy and cold.

Actually I thought we’d already had our share of the white stuff for this year. Karlsruhe is one of the warmest places in Germany, so usually we get a tiny bit of snow at the beginning January (it lasts three days if we’re lucky and usually those three days are during the week so I can’t even go out and play in it thanks to other commitments. Boo hoo!). This year was already unusual. We had the obligatory beginning of the year snowfall in the first week of January, then after two days instead of the sun coming out the temperature suddenly dropped causing the snow – and the pond in the castle gardens – to freeze over. This meant the world stayed white for two whole weeks! I still couldn’t play in it though – once snow’s gone hard it tends not to be the best material for building a snowman. But I did get to perform my very own miracle, walking across the surface of the Schlosspark pond. I bet it’ll be a while before Karlsruhe gets that cold again!