Merry Christmas

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone.

I am having a lovely time at home with the parentals. Been a lot of wedding, some work, with smatterings of fun and family time.

Go go go go go go

Today I have been on the go all day. I have really achieved a lot, and it feels great. I got up early despite my late night last night and am now about to crash.

Sleep....

Tomorrow will be much like today, only with tighter deadlines since I leave for the UK tomorrow. I have to pack and the amount of stuff accumulating seems rather large for the case.

:(

John went back to DC today - I am not so fond of those airport trips. I actually leave for the UK on Monday. I am highly strung as there is so much to do before then. So much. Did I mention I had a lot to do? GAH. Been busy since I came back from the airport and midnight rolled around without me knowing about it. I am now blogging just to calm myself down to sleep. Deep breaths. DEEP. DEEP. In.....out.....in......out.

On the plus side I have completed all the bouquets for me and my bridesmaids. Hurrah. They will be travelling with me to England. I have packaged them up in a way that I hope protects them from the airline.

Right I am off to breath some more.

Cake

So I am the cook in the family... well in the couple. John can cook but doesn't most of the time, and I don't mind because I quite like to cook really - just a matter of having the time and being organized. However, last night I got home to find John had baked for the first time EVER since we have been together. What is even better is that he had baked a gluten free chocolate cake with allergy-free dark chocolate icing. Oh my goodness it was delicious and so very thoughtful.

Did I mention I ate far too much cake? No? Well I did... FAR too much.

did I mention

THAT I LOVE JOHN????!!!

He went and bought groceries for me and came back with bags of gluten free stuff. BAGS!!! He saw it on sale at a local store and seriously the amount he brought home is more than a usual store stocks in gluten free goodies. This is stuff I usually want to buy but I balk at as it is very expensive. Wow. I am such a happy girly and I am so impressed he saw this in the store and then bought it all.

He's a keeper.

Moved

Urgh moving was stressful - thanks to the power company not providing us with electricity when they said they would. However, I do not want to dwell on that as we are now in the house and it is fantastic. John worked hard the day of the move and, while the house may be chaos, he made the living room a serene, organised, and cozy place. I love this house.

Amusingly John seems most happy with our new refrigerator. I keep catching him in the kitchen admiring it. He is particularly enamoured with the deli drawer (it pulls out and the cover flips up) and the beverage chiller (which has a separate temperature cooler to get his beer cold quickly and keep it there). Earlier I heard him talking about it and he was alone in the kitchen... he was making a video to send to someone... ON OUR FRIDGE!!! I love him.

To the airport I shall go...

John flies in this evening. Hurrah!! I do not enjoy the drive to DFW airport but it is 110% worth it when he is the one I am picking up.

Post-thanksgiving

I have spent today in full lazy mode. I did make two trips to the new house but otherwise me and the couch have been very connected. It has been wonderful and just what I needed. I feel like I will be able to go into work tomorrow and be productive and not mind the fact I am in work on a weekend as today has been my weekend. The rental place is finally starting to look like I have taken some stuff out of it and I am looking forward to the move on Monday.

-> Pause in here because when I wrote 'move on Monday' I remembered I had not reserved our moving truck yet. I now have.

The day ended badly yesterday - I was tired after moving all day, sad I was by myself all day, and then I broke the lid to the toilet. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The toilet in the place we are renting likes to continually cycle water at random times for no reason. I was trying to stop it for the nth time and the lid slid and broke into two. Bye bye deposit. Last night it seemed like the end of the world, today it seems like a broken toilet lid so perspective has returned.

Thanksgiving

This month a lot of my friends have been posting things they are thankful for on facebook. One status a day reserved for giving thanks. Well today is Thanksgiving so I think I shall make up for not joining in on the thankful statements by making a thankful list. This is actually my first Thanksgiving in the USA that I am alone for - it just was not possible to go elsewhere this year and this is the part of the month John is away. I have been a little down in the lead up to today but yesterday I realised that I really just have so much to be thankful for that I really have no excuse to be glum.

1. It seems appropriate to start this list with something from my first thanksgiving. I am thankful for the family (not naming names) that were my 'host family' when I first moved to the USA and welcomed me into their family. I celebrated my first Thanksgiving with them and it was a wonderful way to start this tradition. They are still in my thoughts often and I miss them now I am not in Knoxville. I think the man upstairs really had a big hand in putting them in my life as they had a huge impact on many levels.
2. I am thankful for my wonderful relationship with John. He's really number one on my list. I know that I always have his support and while there are always going to be bumps in the road we are always able to talk to one another and sort things out together.
3. I am thankful for our new house. For years now I have wanted a place to call mine, that I can paint and decorate... and feel really at home in. I cannot wait for us to be settled there (not so keen on the moving though).
4. I am thankful for my parents. They are so supportive of me, of John and I as a couple, and of each other. They are having to handle most of our wedding planning themselves and they do it without complaining. They drive me nuts but they wouldn't be my parents if they didn't. I always know they are there for me, their love is a constant in my life (even when I am being a total PAIN to them).
5. I am thankful for my friends. They are what enrich my life, shape me into the person I am today and will be tomorrow, catch me when I fall, hold me accountable for my actions, and make me laugh till I cry. I am really looking forward to making new friends here in Fort Worth but I also acknowledge that I am already so very very blessed in the friend department.
6. I am thankful for my job. This is my dream job, what I have always wanted to do. I am so lucky. Every day I go to work I cannot help but wonder what I did to deserve the opportunity. I am amazed by it.
7. I am thankful that I have never been in a position where I did not know where I would sleep or how I would eat. As a student money may have been tight but never to the point where I went without - I was always able to give a little to others at the same time. I am always grateful for the opportunity to help others because my cup is overflowing.
8. I am thankful for my health. People often joke about my health and accident-prone nature but really I am very fortunate. I can get up every day and walk to work. I can lift the boxes I am packing for the move to my car (OK so they are not very heavy boxes).
9. I am thankful for the creative skills God blessed me with. I may not be able to paint or draw to save my own life but I love that I can sit and sew the flowers for my wedding, make origami, knit, and scrapbook. I find it relaxing.
10. I am thankful for snail mail. I LOVE snail mail. Not junk mail but a letter from a friend or relative - it gives me that lovely warm glowy feeling inside. Oooh I love letters.
11. I am thankful that I grew up and still live in a society where I was free to decide who to love, where to worship, what to learn, and who to talk to.
12. I am thankful for my Grandparents. I had a dream about both sets of Grandparents the other night and I am still a little emotional about it. They were all so very special and dear to me and I miss them terribly. It has been years since any of them have actively been in my life and yet I still find myself wanting to share with them what I am doing, what I have achieved, and where my life is going. I hope they knew how very very grateful I am that they were in my life. They are in my prayers all the time and I still feel their loss every day. I wish they could be at my wedding.
13. I am thankful that so many of my friends have found people that make them happy. I went to three weddings this Summer (and I am thankful that somehow I managed that despite just starting my new job) and it just warmed my heart to see my good friends so happy. I want the best for them.
14. I am thankful for indoor plumbing. I really enjoy camping but I life without indoor plumbing would just not be the same. Odd one for the list but a true one. It probably occurred to me because I need the bathroom (TMI?)
15. I am thankful that I am able to go home often and see my family and friends. Christmas will be so much fun.

Well this could go on for ever but I think I shall end it here - I need to make my dinner.

Moving...

Took the first load of 'stuff' to the new house today. Very exciting. Small car though so really not sure it counts for any headway at all into the moving process. I only managed one trip before it got dark - no electricity there at the moment (to save us paying on two places).

Good day

Sunday was a good day. My tooth was feeling much much better.

I feel that if someone followed me around all day Sunday they would have got a very good view of where I want my life to go... but not necessarily where it is now. I have a few goals I am working towards and they were reflected in my travels yesterday.

Stop 1: Fort Worth Running Company. The twins need a little support and this was the place recommended to me as the more generic stores never have anything in my size. I am trying to get myself into a little better shape as my fitness level is BAD. I had my 'body age' measured and it was very very much older than my actual so I need to work on that. I don't want to be a fitness crazed person but I want to not feel limited by my fitness level. It would be nice to feel energized more often than exhausted.

Stop 2: Sunflower Shoppe. This is the place to go for gluten free goodies. I really am trying to get a handle on my diet. Too often I go for absolute rubbish, which makes me feel awful. A part of having better food is being better prepared - the no gluten thing makes it difficult and if I don't have options in the house I opt for a fast food solution like french fries.

Stop 3: Bliss Bridal Salon. I went veil shopping!! I was sort of depressed at having to do this by myself initially. I do not have any female friends here yet. However, the lady who owns this salon is just plain wonderful and made me feel like she was a good friend - sign of a good owner there. I got to wear my dress for a while and try on lots of veils. Just like the dress I did not get what I thought I would but I love my purchase. No descriptions though as John reads this occasionally. Clearly getting married is not so much of a goal thing - but it is something I am looking forward to very much. Cannot wait to be John's wife.

Stop 4: Home. I cooked two lots of soup and a main meal yesterday to get prepared for the week ahead so I can make more sensible choices. I continued sewing my bouquet flowers (I am on the home stretch now). I did some laundry. I felt like stuff got done.

Aims for the week ahead:

1. pack up the house and start moving some boxes over to the new place
2. get the alarm system in the new house up and running - this requires me to turn ont he electricity
3. GET SOME WORK DONE
4. Clean the floors in our current place (it is a disaster)
5. do not eat out all week
6. drink my 6-8 glasses of water a day (this contributed to my OLD OLD body age)

Tee hee

It is interesting reading the previous post because I just find it funny today. Yesterday was cruddy to the nth degree but stepping back from it I am amused at how much I let things get to me. Easily done when you are in pain though I guess.

Today was a good day. I will post about it later... maybe tomorrow.

Bad Day

Urgh Saturday was a bad bad day.

I went to bed delightfully early on Friday night feeling just fine and dandy - my gum was aching a teeny tiny bit around my troublesome wisdom tooth, but nothing to worry about. 2 am rolls around and I feel like someone has driven a steak in my ear, down into my neck and I look like a hamster storing food in one cheek. WTH wisdom tooth???? Cue infection three for the last 7 months in my gum thanks to this troublesome tooth. I was in so much pain I was being sick, almost tempted to go to the ER/A&E. Why do teeth hurt so much? I try to cut my finger off and even the Dr. marveled at my pain tolerance but a swollen gum and I am a quivering wreck. I put an ice pack on my pillow and some pain pills in my mouth and tried to sleep till morning. 10 am and I am waiting in line at Urgent Care (no dentist here in Fort Worth yet). Thankfully the nice Dr. sorted me out - had to have some injections of steroids and antibiotics to kick in fast (I was a swollen wreck, not a pretty sight at all). Plus I have a nice week course of meds to kick the infection to the curb. Even got some nice antibiotics as the Dr. listened to me saying that antibiotics normally left me feeling really sick and gave me more belly friendly ones.

On the way back from the Urgent Care I decide to swing by the new house for the first time since purchase. We were told the key was left in a lock box on the property. No key. No key anywhere. They gave it to the title company (contrary to what they told us) and that meant no access to the house till Monday. I was annoyed on principle - be nice to get in the house that WE OWN!!!!! My realtor arranged for an emergency locksmith (we had planned to change the locks anyway). Turns out our new house is hard to break in to as I was there for THREE HOURS. Nearly two of them spent trying to pick a lock. In the cold (relative term in Texas but I could have done with a warmer jumper). With a swollen face. Unable to take pain meds so I could drive back to the rental house.

Oooooh bad mood.

Then I am feeling uber grumpy and uber sore and I am STARVING because I have not eaten all day and I cannot be bothered to cook - I want to lie on the sofa and have food brought to me. There are no delivery places near us that are not wheat-based delivery places. Pizza? Absolutely!! But I would rather not add gastrointestinal distress to my list of moans for the day.

Bedtime was achieved early in hope of a better day Sunday.....

Woo hooooooo

I closed on the house today. Guess photos should follow. They probably will.

Yawn, stretch

Having a very leisurely morning today. Forgot to set my alarm and woke up at 7.30 am feeling quite refreshed. Decided to be in no great hurry to get to work because even if I lounge about I'll be there by 9 am and that's OK. Sitting back, drinking a lovely coffee, surfing on amazon. Ahhhhhhh.

I need more time

Well the house is ours in under a week now and I just do not know how everything will get done. Eek. John leaves to go back to DC today for two weeks so I am by myself again. :( Luckily we will actually have our current house for another two weeks so there is overlap and I do not have to move us by myself - that would not be a good thing. Here is hoping John can get back here in time for the big move as it would not be the same without him. While he is gone I shall pack up and get us ready though. We are actually only going a mile down the road so the temptation is not to pack at all but that would be a decision I am sure I would regret. I started getting boxes out last night and some packing was done, not much, but everyone has to start somewhere.

Thanksgiving is coming up next week and it looks like I will be in Fort Worth by myself. I am mostly at peace with this as I still have not really embraced it as a holiday yet - but still who doesn't love an excuse to pig out? Well OK, I am sure some people don't but I sure do.

In other news John has a blog now - people should read it, if he updates it anyway.

http://funnybusiness101.blogspot.com/

Big News

So the big news is that we have had an offer on a house accepted. Hurrah!!!!! The one slight hiccup in this process is that John has not actually seen this house yet. Mum and dad came and saw this one with me and we all loved it and did not want to lose it so we tried to lock the guy down in an offer while we could. The American system (for my British friends) is much like the English one where you have a short period of time after the offer to get the house inspected etc.. during which you can withdraw for a very small penalty ($50). So if John hates it, it is not the end of the world.

I will post pictures if this house becomes OURS!

It is a lovely 3 bedroom-2 bath, which is under a mile from campus (hello lovely commute). I am so excited that we might have our first house. We would close in under three weeks so this is a very quick sale. Eek.

My office

Have I mentioned that my new office is wonderful? I probably have, well I know I have. The last few days have only seen the wonderfulness increase as so far this week the following have been delivered:

• 3 bulletin boards
• 1 white board (for my extra room - my main office already has 2)
• A printer
• Software for my lovely computer
• A 1.5 TB external hard drive
• 3 bookcases (hurrah!)
• 2 chairs - I was not expecting these, this brings the office chair total to 6, which seems slightly excessive.
• 1 table for my microscope when I buy it

I can now bring all the boxes that remain at home and put things on shelves. Might even post pictures when it is all together and organised... well when it is all together anyway.

Yum

John bought me some gluten free chocolate chip and pecan biscuits last night. I just had one. It was delicious. That is all.

The new job

Right so I shall take a minute before lunch to blog about the new job. I feel like I am starting to get settled in now, but then it does not take much to throw me off track. I am haunted by the feeling that any day now someone is going to walk into my office and tell me it has all been some kind of cruel joke and they never meant to employ me. The feeling that I am playing at being a Professor is a prominent one. However, I do love it here. TCU seems like a fabulous place to work and study. The more I learn about the university the more I realise how lucky I am to be here. But enough of the abstract thoughts let's deal with some facts.

1. My office here is bigger than my last flat. It is still in need of some bookcases, I am getting a little tired of my books being on the floor but they are on order and with all the space I have there is really very little room to complain.
2. A lot of the faculty eat lunch together every day. This is nice. It makes me feel welcome.
3. I love being back on a campus and this campus is great as there are not the mass amounts of undergrads around that Tennessee had (my fellow TN grad students will understand this one).
4. The nameplate on my door says Dr. Mayne and people keep calling me Dr. or Professor. Today I got an email to Professor Rhiannon. It made me laugh, overall it just seems silly and I feel very old.
5. There are so many meteorites here to play with. I need to spend more time playing with them.
6. I am taking just about every course the university offers at the moment. It is scary how much I have to learn.
7. I love my job.

Scolded

I received an email today pointing out my recent blogging inadequacies and thoroughly scolding me for them. I apologise. I do feel like I have been busy but I have not been busy enough to justify not sitting down for five or ten minutes every few days to write a little. Blogging is one of those things that is so easy to put off till tomorrow.

So what have I been up to?

Well obviously we moved to Texas. John and I are now residents of Fort Worth. John is only here two weeks a month though, the rest of the time he is still in DC so he can keep his current job. We are hoping he'll find something here soon as, quite selfishly, I want him here as I miss him when he's gone. I am now in the throes of my job at TCU and I love it. It is all a bit overwhelming and deserving of a blog entry of its own really so I won't go on about it here.

The last two months have also seen me attend three weddings in the UK (well one was a vow renewal but it counts as it was the wedding they never had). I felt so fortunate to get to all of them and had a wonderful time at every one. It is so interesting to see the personal spin every bride (and groom) puts on their big day. I actually only just returned from wedding number 3 last night. I went to the UK for the weekend - not something I would recommend but totally worth it to see the people involved become husband and wife.

Right well I will probably expand on all the points above in future blogs... well I intend to but let's see if it happens, no promises. For now I need to go and teach.

Darn and blast it

I have gone and forgotten the one thing I needed to do my work today. Bother!

Ho hum....

Now can I find something else to do or shall there be much thumb twiddling?

Food glorious food

My black bean lasagne was lovely, well I thought so anyway. John seemed to like it but I am beginning to wonder if the boy will ever say anything I cook tastes bad... so he might not be the person to ask.

We bought goat sausages today - another unusual one to add to the list.

My legs are a bit wibbly wobbly from the gym earlier. I have been trying to go every day this week to combat the massive amounts of stress the move seems to be putting me under. Trying to finish everything at old job, preparing for new job, visa worries, and the whole packing thing is just too much. On the plus side I have three wonderful things to look forward to soon - WEDDINGS!!!!

What I have eaten this week that you may not have

The new no gluten, no dairy me has made things a leetle interesting on the food front. I have been trying a lot of new foods and this week has been no exception. So far:

1. A cake with no wheat flour, eggs, or dairy - instead it had chickpea flour and tofu in it. Odd. I made lemon chiffon cupcakes. They were not truly awful but would I prefer a "normal" fairy cake, why yes, yes I would.
2. Umeboshi paste. This is made from pickled Ume (some fruit somewhere between an apricot and a plum - Japanese thing). I did not eat this neat, I made rice balls covered in toasted sesame seeds and the umeboshi went in the rice. They were delicious, especially served with:
3. Tamari. This is just wheat free soy sauce really.
   
4. Three different kinds of milk, none of which were from a cow (or any animal actually). These were rice, soy, and almond.
5. Ice cream made from coconut milk (guess that makes four types of milk). I think I prefer coconut milk ice cream to the ordinary cow based.
   

Tomorrow I will be making a pasta, dairy, and meat-free lasagne! (Black bean lasagne - corn tortillas instead of the noodles and I have soy cheese and sour cream).

Countdown to Texas

This weekend I have actually commenced the packing up of all my belongings. Cannot believe it has been a year since I moved here, time has flown by.. but in some ways I feel like I have lived here for much longer than that. My landlords invited me for dinner last night and their kids made me feel very guilty for leaving. Nothing like a 6 year old pouting and getting upset for laying on a guilt trip!

I guess my biggest news of late is my new eating habits. I decided enough was enough with my digestive and stomach issues and I tried the elimination diet. The way it is supposed to work is that you cut a ton of food groups out of your diet for a while and then reintroduce them one by one to see if any of them cause your symptoms. I got a few big red flags:

1. Dairy - well I knew this one, but I guess it is good to have it confirmed.
2. Wheat (gluten)- this is the big killer, wheat is in so many yummy yummy things that I love to eat (pasta, bread, cakes, crackers, soy sauce.. it is in freaking everything). However, wheat also seems to be the worst thing for me, every time I eat it I suffer.

So I am now a dairy and gluten free eater. I feel fabulous. On first glance it seems like a really difficult thing to do but the payoff is so great that it has been easier than I thought it would be... so far anyway. Have to see if I can keep it up.

Hmmm what else:

• I was supposed to be in France last week and then in the UK for my friend's hen party yesterday. Alas I went nowhere because of the issues related with having to get a new visa. I am really sad I couldn't go but the extra time here is much needed.
• John and I have been together for a year now. That seems incredible. I get all soppy thinking about it, which isn't like me so I'll shut up now. I am so excited to move to Texas with him.
• My motivation at work is severely lacking. Urgh.
• I am going to go make my lunch now. Roasted tomatoes with toasted pine nuts and basil in RICE pasta. Yay for rice pasta.
  

Post-move PANIC

Yet again over a month has gone by since my last post. I have to confess I am beginning to show signs of stress. Much stress. The move to Texas is looming (less than a month and a half) and there are about 3 months worth of things to be done. I am at that stage where there is so much I need to do that I seem incapable of doing any of it. I have resigned myself to not really having any fun this weekend so I can at least catch up a little. I did manage to go to the Farmers' Market this morning and pick me up some lovely fruit and veg... oh and I now have two of the best goats cheeses I have ever had in residence in my fridge. Yummers.

What has happened since my last post? The most important thing has to be that my parents came into town just to go wedding dress shopping with me. I found "the dress" even though when I went I was not sure such a thing existed. It was all very surreal. Initially seeing myself in the mirror in wedding dresses was hard to mesh with reality. However, the dress that I chose was the unanimous choice of all and I am so excited about it. I was told it would take 6 months to arrive and then by some fluke it was in stock so I already have my dress. It is at a friend's house so that John does not see it at all.

Right back to work - photoshop is calling.. and crashing.

What a difference a year makes

One year ago today all my belongings were packed in a truck and I left Knoxville to start a new chapter of my life in DC. I remember feeling cautiously optimistic about the changes that might lie ahead and amazingly thankful that I had finally finished my Ph.D and had a life without graduate school ahead of me. I actually went back to Knoxville last weekend. It had been 10 months and there were some people I just needed to see. While I was there I had a few snippets of time to myself between meeting friends and I went back to some old haunts and was surprised at how foreign things seemed. I have changed a lot over the last year and Knoxville the place really hit this home. Surely it had been more than a year, I thought, or how can things feel this out of place, how can this part of my life seem so distant?? Thank goodness for my friends in Knoxville, they reminded me where my home in Knoxville was. I had forgotten how much I missed some of them, although I am not sure how. I really did not want to drive back when I did as there were more people to see, more news to catch up on (not to mention chicken pot pie to eat - Rene!!!!).

So what has happened over the last year? I have gained some more confidence in my abilities, more independence, more wrinkles. I have worked in a job in a field I love with amazing people. I am now engaged to a man I did not know this time last year and I could not be happier. I was unaware that relationships could even be like this. I have made a whole new group of friends in DC - people who I will be friends with for many many years to come. I have met several new additions to the world (Babies Evie and Maggie) and missed those people who are no longer here, I have missed them terribly.

The next logical question to ask is what will the next year bring? If possible, it seems I may see more change than in the last year. It brings me a new job. This time next year I will be finishing my first year as an Assistant Professor. I will be in the job I dreamed of having at 16, the job the careers' advisor told me I would never be able to get. I will be in Texas, with my wonderul fiance. I will have seen several friends get married and be close to getting married myself.

I have so many reasons to be thankful and just wanted to take the time to thank my friends, family, and fiance because you are what make my life so incredible.

Chocolate cake in 5 minutes

A dear friend sent me a recipe a while back that I forgot about and after tonight I may wish it had stayed that way. It is for a chocolate cake that you can make in five minutes total.

What you need:
1 large coffee mug
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
splash of vanilla extract

Combine all dry ingredients in coffee mug, add egg, milk, vanilla extract, and oil - mix well.
Add chocolate chips if you are using them
Microwave for three minutes (my microwave is 1000 watt and this seemed to work well)

Cake will rise in mug. I have huuuuuge mugs due to my love of vast amounts of coffee but if you use a normal size mug I imagine this would rise over the top.

Let cool

EAT

Life changes

So my last post was all about my big news. Apparently I caught the lucky virus for a while as under a week after John and I got engaged I was offered the job I interviewed for in Texas. This is my dream job. I cannot quite believe it. Of course I have accepted, although there are many visa hoops to jump through before anything is completely settled. I am so optimistic though. Some of you are probably wondering what this job is, so I guess I should tell you.

It is an Assistant Professor position in Meteoritics and Planetary Science at Texas Christian University. They have an amazing meteorite collection there which I would be responsible for curating on top of research and teaching responsibilities. I would be able to have my own students too. It is so exciting. Looks like John and I will be moving to Fort Worth, Texas.

Big big news

Well most of my readers will know by now that last week was a very busy one in the land of rambling Rhi.

1. I attended the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas
2. I had a job interview, also in Texas
3. It was my birthday (so close to 30 now I can almost touch it)
4. John PROPOSED

The last one, of course, trumps all the rest. I am stupidly happy and excited, really looking forward to the next stage of my life now with John. Now to answer the two questions all my female friends keep asking.

1. Was it romantic? Yes John proposed in a romantic fashion and got down on one knee.
2. What does the ring look like? The ring is perfect. I have, for as long as I can remember, desperately wanted a pearl ring but finding an attractive one is a bit of a challenge. John did amazingly well on this and bought the most beautiful one I have seen. I was not going to post any pictures as they don't do it justice but I think I should bow to the peer pressure here (I have been bombarded with emails and facebook messages asking for pictures). Pictures are shown below.

Current feelings

I am a teensy bit overwhelmed at the moment. GAH. Why is it that when I am snowed under with work and home and everything else that instead of putting my nose to the grindstone and getting it done, my motivation goes on holiday? Seriously if you have seen my vacationing motivation please pack it up and send it priority mail back to me. I need it. I am thinking about taking out a missing ad on a milk carton.

I will be watching my mailbox......

Monday morning blues

I spent the morning at the dentist, bleurgh, getting a crown I have needed for ...um... seven years (winces). I do not like the dentist. My wallet does not like the dentist.

Couch Update

The static guard was purchased, the couch was sprayed and several lessons were learned.

1. Static guard in large quantities + person with asthma = bad mixture. John will be doing any large static guarding in the future.

2. Static guard keeps the electricity at bay for just under two weeks, the couch has resumed its crackling underneath my butt.

New skills

I have been a little absent of late. This is mostly due to the absence of any free time, which is a wonderful thing and a curse all in one. Firstly, I have had a few visitors this month - Amy came all the way from Blighty to see me. We had a blast: I got to see some of the Washington sights I had yet to visit; we spent two days on the slopes learning to snowboard (Amy) and progressing existing snowboard skills (Me); we caught up on all out gossip. It was so lovely to have her here and I feel quite proud of how I have overcome some of my snow-sports fears' this season. The place felt so empty once Amy left and then along came Steven to fill in the hole. Steven is an undergraduate back at the University of Tennessee who I have been working with. My landlords let him stay upstairs for most of last week and we did our best to work hard at the Musuem all week.

Then there have been the weekends...... every Sunday this month I have been taking a Red Cross course, which finished today. I am now a qualified Red Cross Instructor in First Aid/CPR/AED for Adults, Children, and Infants. Getting up at 8am every Sunday morning has not been my favourite thing in the world but it has been such a rewarding experience. I am apprehensive about teaching my first class but they do prepare us well and it seems amazing that I could teach others skills that could help to save some lives. Anyone need some training?

Shocking

I am feeling accomplished this evening. I had this very optimistic to-do list for my evening at home and, as I sit here on my comfortable couch, it is ALL done. Hurrah!! However, I do not plan to blog about my wonderful to-do list mostly consisting of bathroom cleaning tasks, thrilling though it is. I plan instead to blog about my comfortable couch. It is the couch of an S&M lover I fear. It is electrically charged. I wish I knew quite how this occurred but just getting near the cushions makes all the hairs on my arms stand up, quite a weird feeling. A bottom shuffle produces a lovely crackling sound from beneath my trousers and touching anything vaguely conductive while sitting on it is quite painful. In the dark you can even get a cheap light show..... I guess I got more than I paid for in that aspect but the 'oooh pretty' is quickly replaced by an 'ow.'

Tomorrow's to-do list: buy Static Guard.

Space pen lives to write another day

What I am about to say is a total nerd thing, but I fully embrace my identity so here goes..... Back last March, shortly after my Ph.D. defense, I was at Space Center Houston looking for a space themed gift to buy myself as a little pat on the back. I purchased a space pen, quite a nice one too (John covets it). It has become my favourite thing to write with so I was upset last week when it went missing. I searched high and low and there was no sign of it. Sigh.

A few days later I was doing my laundry and the drier was being unreasonably loud when I went to check on it. I opened the door and rooted around a bit and found the barrel of my pen, which had been separated from the nib, and the inner ink cartridge. This is all slightly puzzling since I was washing my sheets, my WHITE sheets, not items with pockets I may have put the pen in. However, what really struck me was:

1) The pen went through the wash and yet my sheets have absolutely no ink on them at all.
2) The pen writes like a dream still.

I love it more now. It is the pen love of my life thus far. I take thee space pen to be my lawful writing instrument, in washer and in drier.....

About bloomin' time I blogged

OK so rather a long time has passed since my last blog so perhaps I should recap the last month and a half. My 2008 ended very well. I went home (as in the UK) for the last two weeks of the year and John even joined me for the first week. He then flew back to spend Christmas Day with his own family. It was a little weird as I usually spend most of my time at home relaxing, with a little traveling around. This time I felt it was sort of my duty to show John a little bit outside of the little village in which my parents live. So in the first week I went to London for a few days, had a day trip to Banbury, and another to Oxford, then we also managed a night out with some of my nearest and dearest friends. My parents, being the loves they are, then threw a pre-Christmas Christmas for John so that he could experience the way us Brits do it (yay for Christmas pudding and brandy butter) before he went home. It was so much fun and I felt privileged to experience John's first foreign travel with him - and the company on the flight out there was wonderful. The rest of my trip was much less eventful as I got sick (I succumb easily to British germs now - I am pretending I never used to) so most of it was spent with my nose in a tissue and a mug of lempsip in my hand.

2009 did not start well. I had:
1) My harddrive crash right before an important deadline. This meant I lost data (a weeks worth, but enough to be REALLY inconvenient at that time) and all my holiday pictures (some of which have now been recovered).
2) A bent rim on one of my tires which required a trip to a scrap yard and several trips to the garage - oh and a new tire as well. Sigh.
3) A cough that made me sound like a sea lion. It was obnoxious.
4) Half a tooth fall out. I had already planned to book an appointment as I was looong overdue but this forced my hand. It fell out a week before my deadline too and I had no time to get it fixed that week and it was sore. I was grumpy.

2009 is already improving though. I shall post more news later.